Cycling in Brisbane Australia
Various Infrastructure Annoyances
This junction at the corner of Herschel Street & North Quay (a key entry point to the bikeway) has been a joke for years but the recent 'upgrade' has made it worse.
Council had MONTHS to fix this and they only started on it just prior to the bikeway reopening recently. It's disgusting.
- The pole is almost in the MIDDLE of the pathway, making the turn for cyclists very, very tight if they want to go left (of course there is no point going straight as the footpath ends so I'm not sure why they spent money on that pedestrian crossing...)
- The surface is loose gravel which is bumpy and very dangerous when wet
- The access cover is sticking out of the ground
It has been like this for a few months now. Flashy, visible bikeways are all well and good but when they can't even get the BASICS right, what hope is there?
My suggestions to improve this:
- Remove the pole with the crossing button and relocate it to where the pole with the 'Bicentennial Bikeway' sign sits (on the right, slightly thinner pole)
- Get rid of the crossing which goes straight ahead and put a bike box there instead
- Fix the surface and enlarge & smooth the drop off
- And for God's sake, do not put those stupid bloody slippery plastic 'tactile buttons' on the surface. They have got to be the dumbest invention (and I know some visually impaired people that agree... they slip on them too!)
Also, here is another photo illustrating the general disregard for pedestrians in this city.
(Corner of Hamilton Place & O'Connell Terrace, Bowen Hills)
That large box (I think) is part of the traffic control system for the new (fugly) overpass which ends just near the Courier Mail building in Bowen Hills. WTF does it have to be THERE? WHY?
As you can see, not only is the footpath surface nice and smooth for the elderly & wheelchairs but they have numerous 'traffic calming' devices to slow them down. We can't give those freeloaders quality now can we? Meanwhile the road is smooth & unobstructed.
If anyone from council reads this, can you people please do a proper job? It's like nobody really gives a $#!t and that's really making me angry, very angry.
This makes me want to earn less, pay less tax and tax deduct every thing I possibly can... I don't do this currently because I think taxes are important. However, when Governments show flagrant disregard for citizens (and the money earned from them) it makes me think twice, it really does.
Does one have to slip and sue Council to see anything change? If so, that can be arranged.
Tags: crap, cyclists, footpath, infrastructure, joke, kill, me, now, obstacle, pedestrians, More…
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Daniel Graham on -
Excellent points you've raised here eBrent.
I actually approached the BCC last year about this road. Basically I suggested that "bike lanes" and car parking were a dangerous combination. When I suggested that parking be removed from out the front of the shops, the BCC person would not even consider that at all. It seems that car parking must come first.
Here are my comments about this road, from a cyclist's perspective.
You've highlighted the dangerous spots already, but I would include the shops/cafes section where inattentive car people wander back to their cars and fling open car doors without looking for cyclists.
My solution on the way down the hill is to ignore the bike lane and ride in the middle of the traffic lane. the way up the hill is slow and dangerous and I have to use the bike lane.
I also am interested in opinions. This road would carry a lot of cyclist traffic every morning and evening. What is the best thing council could do to make it safer for cyclists?
Daniel
-
Permalink Reply by StephenW on -
One simple solution is to ride on the footpath through the worst section of door zone. It might slow you down, but enough cyclists on the footpath every morning should make the point soon enough.
-
Permalink Reply by Chris Cox on -
Yes. It'll make the point that they erred in making riding on the foot path legal! LOL, sorry, just channeling my inner public servant.
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Stockwell on -
More likely they'll then just draw a bicycle on the footpath and call it an extra half kilometre of bike track provided for those pesky cyclists. "Problem solved!" :/
-
Permalink Reply by Aaron Ball on
-
hahahaahhhahaah (cry)
-
Permalink Reply by StephenW on
-
Had an errand which took me away from my usual route anyway this morning, so I thought I'd have another go at Kedron Brook Road.
The ride up the brook was lovely as usual - the work they're doing to restore and improve the creek now that the tunnel/bridge work is finished looks like it's going to be very nice.
But then Kedron Brook Road, which really is awful. Had forgotten that a decent stretch of the bike lane is basically a gutter with a line painted along it. And the door zone through the village is diabolical. I tested the footpath from the beginning of the shops to after a trendy coffee place, and that took out some of the worst of it, but still not an enjoyable experience.
But (sorry if this is a bit of a whinge) the really terrible bit came after Roma St Parklands. Someone mentioned that a way to get through to Eagle and Charlotte, where I work, might be to head for George St, and then ride along Mary. So I headed down the ramp toward Roma St and gazed out at the chaos after that funny roundabout that goes nowhere. Gave up in despair and headed along the footpath toward KG Square. Only to have some miserable cretin in a blue BMW cut me off, basically turning right over top of me, at the entrance to KGS carpark. Yelled at them a bit.
Finally had the pleasure of trying to dodge the buses down Edward St toward Mary St - what on earth are you supposed to do there? I used the footpath at times, but it's not good.
So, to make a long story longer, I was reminded why I prefer my Albion-Newstead-New Farm route, which has a lovely stretch along the river at Newstead, and finishes with the river path toward Eagle St Pier. The worst stretches on the way into town are the Dickson St leg of the death corridor, the bit of Sandgate Road next to the creek with all the car yards (although on the way home you can use the path next to the creek), and the Kent St door zones toward the end.
There, this is almost certainly my longest post. Hope it's a bit useful.
-
Permalink Reply by Straughan Briggs on -
can only comment on Roma St bit.
Instead of going down the ramp to Roma St, go left just at the dropoff, & use the shared path to Albert St which you can follow to & across KG Square, then across to the Queen St Mall & to Charlotte St. Might be a bit better than your trip this morning !
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Martin on -
Good advice. I recommend this to quite a few people. It's less of a gradient and, although there are a few pedestrians around, it is much safer for all.
It frustrates me when people suggest that Brisbane's CBD is bicycle friendly - it so isn't! It's not even *pedestrian* friendly...
-
Permalink Reply by StephenW on
-
Thanks. That's the way I usually go, although I've tended to turn along Adelaide St after KG square, because Albert's one way the wrong way, and Elizabeth St is not much fun. As PaulM says, rumours that the CBD is bicycle-friendly are very much exaggerated.
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Martin on
-
"My solution on the way down the hill is to ignore the bike lane and ride in the middle of the traffic lane. the way up the hill is slow and dangerous and I have to use the bike lane."
Not a solution if the traffic is heavy or worse, at a standstill. The only alternative to running the gauntlet then is to use the footpath. Be thankful that this is legal in Queensland as it is illegal in most other states.
"I also am interested in opinions. This road would carry a lot of cyclist traffic every morning and evening. What is the best thing council could do to make it safer for cyclists?"
What can BCC do?
Not reinvent the wheel for a start - something we seem good at here in Australia. Solutions to these problems *already exist* elsewhere (http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com & http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com), but we choose to not look out of sheer arrogance and this belief that we are somehow completely different. We are not.
Door zone bicycle 'lanes' are not bicycle infrastructure and it is an affront to call them such. They are dangerous. BAZ yellow symbols are just as useless, yet all this crap comes out of the 'cycling budget' I'm sure...and they are counted in the 'bicycle infrastructure tally' - no matter how pathetic.
Such busy routes should not have car parking placed ahead of cyclist or pedestrian safety. There is only one proper solution and that is a wide, one-way, separated bikeway (3m wide at least) on each side of the road with parking on one side of the road only, and to the right of the bikeway.
The profile should be:
Houses/Building - Footpath - Cyclepath - Road Lane - Road Lane - Car Parking - Cyclepath - Footpath - Shops/Building
This notion that business will 'suffer' if the car parks are removed has been disproven time and time again and it is getting a bit tired. You only have to look at how valuable the most car-free street fronted retail space is - the mall.
-
-
Funnily enoughy I too have had cars try to overtake me while I'm doing the speed limit, even when I'm right behind the car in front (so there's nowhere for the overtaking car to go excapt squeeze me out). I think it is something in the DNA that thinks "bicycle- I must go faster".
I agree the solution is to put in an uphill (outbound) bike lane. At the moment most of the carparking area is actually just a BAZ. Parking should be banned permanently, not just at peak times. There's plenty of space to accommodate parking on the donwhill (inbound) side of the street. Speed limit should also be reduced to 30km/h. This is a shopping precinct, and lots of pedestrians/shoppers/diners should be encouraged to be there. Given that there's a school at the top of the hill this is even more important. This would mean no need for a bike lane coming down the hill: even the most newbie cyclist could cruise down that hill at +20km/h without pedalling. also I think 'entryways' should be created at each end: some sort of road treatment that clearly lets everybody know that this is a shared zone. Stick some bike racks along that section, and even a CityCycle station, and cyclists would soon be stopping there for food, coffee, newsagents etc. no doubt greatly increasing patronage over the numbers that currently drive there. Heck there's even a bike shop there already.
I think the biggest thing stopping a lot of sidewalk retail/dining areas like this doing better business is not parking or access, but just the sheer roadnoise of cars constantly going by. The constant background noise can very uninviting, even if people don't consciously notice it.
also, up towarsds the school, the bike lane is woefully inadequate. This should be much wider, and given the lack of road width doing away with the bike lane altogether on the other side of the road would help with this.
-
Permalink Reply by Big Steve on -
Yep.. it's certainly the most hairy section of my commute.
Going into town I just grab the lane as it's easy to do the speed limit. Actually one morning I was doing 10k over the limit and I got overtaken by a SUV doing 60+ where the road narrows for the pedestrian crossing... but I digress.
Yep inbound take the lane otherwise you'll get squashed at the kink as you know. Be careful though.. I used to ride left on the assumption that I could go into the bike lane in emergency when one morning someguy hesitated in front of me and then overtook the car in front who had swung into and blocked the bike lane to grab a park. Dodgy but manageable by experienced riders.
The trip outbound however is a different story. Generally the traffic is quiet enough that it's not a problem but in the evening peak hour it's nuts. I generally amble the first bit and then wind it up and do car speed (40k) for the bad bit until past the bike shop. I acknowledge that not everyone can do that and I'd rather not have to either.
As to what to do about it? Clearly the easy no cost answer is to make the outbound side of the road a clearway from 4-7 monday to friday. I think this is a great solution as it allows parking at all other times and while the shop owners wouldn't be happy it's not catastrophic for them. With a few signs they could fix the problem. Further up closer to the school this is already the case so it would be just an extension. This solution is "low hanging fruit" in my opinion.
I like Stephen's solution too. If everyone road the foot path then that would annoy people. Whether you'd get enough people to do it ... I doubt it. It also exposes them to danger around the road crossings which may well be worse than the alternative.
Aaron suggested riding up the footpath along Newmarket road and up Lamont Street. This bypasses the worst of Kedron Brook road. I recommended this to a noobie and he found it worked well. After a couple of weeks he just went to riding the KBR because it was quicker.
© 2012 Created by DamianM.
