Active Transport Plan for Canterbury Bankstown Council (greater Sydney)

[opik_bidin]

The flattest and centre part of Sydney finally getting on board
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https://haveyoursay.cbcity.nsw.gov.au/a ... ction-plan


Background

In 2019, Council engaged specialist transport experts, GTA Consultants, to develop an Active Transport Action Plan for the entire City of Canterbury-Bankstown. This Plan identifies the priority infrastructure projects that are considered to have the biggest potential to improve the walkability and cyclability of our City through focusing on areas that connect people, transport and places.
This proposal

Our Community Strategic Plan, CBCity 2028, highlights the community’s aspiration to be a city that is moving and integrated, an accessible city with great local destinations and many options to get there. The Active Transport Action Plan supports the aspirations of the Community Strategic Plan by seeking to provide an interconnected walking and cycling network for the people that live in, undertake activities within and pass through the entire Canterbury-Bankstown LGA, while integrating with the broader metropolitan strategies and bicycle network of neighbouring LGAs

[zebee]

I think the best I can say is... aspirational.

Lots of nice words, not a lot of useful detail. I've seen a plan on the CBcity site which has lots of lovely bike infra in Campsie which requires land that hasn't changed hands in 40 years to suddenly be available for new builds which will have bike paths through them... And they still can't work out what to do about the railway line because God forbid cars should be inconvenienced on Beamish St. More than they do it to themselves that is.

[opik_bidin]

I think the best I can say is... aspirational.

Lots of nice words, not a lot of useful detail. I've seen a plan on the CBcity site which has lots of lovely bike infra in Campsie which requires land that hasn't changed hands in 40 years to suddenly be available for new builds which will have bike paths through them... And they still can't work out what to do about the railway line because God forbid cars should be inconvenienced on Beamish St. More than they do it to themselves that is.

with bike delivery guys mainly from there (Vietnamese and south asians) plus the number of restaurants, I think the councillors are getting on it.

I think there is also pressure from new development and people shouting about congestion, so seeing CoS success with Bourke st, they are dreaming of doing something similar with Canterbury-Campsie-Lakemba-Wiley Park-Punchbowl-Bankstown (I call it the eating line). With many developments but the congestion will still be the same as the pressure from less train capacity and more people are taken off by the cycleways (plus a nice value increase in proerty doesn't hurt)

From what I see at the beamish street, I think the crossing should be made again (with cycle and ped) and the wall preventing people crossing from Anzac Mall should be demolished

The metro is something that will be done. The upzoning is happening. so CBC should be able to get something

Its really intriguing that the flattest part is the most hostile

[zebee]

Before the walls people crossed anywhere, especially treating the speed humps that were there as zebra crossings. Upset car drivers an awful lot!

They were talking about doing something unspecified (but not, alas, involving dynamite) to the Wairoa underpass to make it "safer" for cyclists and a bike path up South Pde and use Lilian lane to then meet up with a gap in buildings that would magically appear to waft you up to Canterbury Rd.

I'd like them to realise that car traffic can't bring business to the area because of parking so get them all in the offstreet parks, remove the car parking both sides and make the parking line a bike lane...

[opik_bidin]

Before the walls people crossed anywhere, especially treating the speed humps that were there as zebra crossings. Upset car drivers an awful lot!

They were talking about doing something unspecified (but not, alas, involving dynamite) to the Wairoa underpass to make it "safer" for cyclists and a bike path up South Pde and use Lilian lane to then meet up with a gap in buildings that would magically appear to waft you up to Canterbury Rd.

I'd like them to realise that car traffic can't bring business to the area because of parking so get them all in the offstreet parks, remove the car parking both sides and make the parking line a bike lane...

Things are changing. They have done with that Wooden Bridge, now thye are also going t do that Canterbury road Underpass. so I hope many things to be done. There is SMCC where Jihad Dib (the MP) and Bilal El Hayek (a councillor) is close to in Punchbowl.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SydneyB ... %2CO%2CP-R

I was riding along the Cooks River path near Canterbury Rd yesterday afternoon and noticed some surveyors packing up. I asked one of them if they were there re the new underpass. His answer was yes. He went on to say that the designs had been redone a number of times, and this had been the delay to works commencing. They were there yesterday to confirm the constructability of the latest iteration of the design.
Fingers crossed they’ve got it right this time. If good to go, construction should start shortly.
No idea what the official detour will be. Keep an eye out from council for feedback. Hopefully better than the sub-par approach to the Lang Rd bridge detours. Perhaps they might first consult the users this time

[brumby33]

Before the walls people crossed anywhere, especially treating the speed humps that were there as zebra crossings. Upset car drivers an awful lot!

They were talking about doing something unspecified (but not, alas, involving dynamite) to the Wairoa underpass to make it "safer" for cyclists and a bike path up South Pde and use Lilian lane to then meet up with a gap in buildings that would magically appear to waft you up to Canterbury Rd.

I'd like them to realise that car traffic can't bring business to the area because of parking so get them all in the offstreet parks, remove the car parking both sides and make the parking line a bike lane...

Zebee, I think the wall may have been placed there in Beamish street as it's also a very busy Bus hub. Campsie is probably one of the most serviced small township areas in Sydney for public transportation with train and bus services. Many elderly from suburbs far away make their way to Campsie. If that wall was removed, it'd be a nightmare and if they placed crossing lights there, then between light crossings would cause a major bank-up of traffic. There isn't a need for that wall to be removed as there's a major crossing with South Pde just a few Metres further.
It would not be an easy place to divert traffic either as Beamish street is a major thoroughfare to Croydon Park, Bexley Road, Canterbury road, and towards Burwood. The amount of people who travel on buses between Campsie & Burwood all throughout each and every day is incredible.
One huge danger of riding a bike along Beamish Street is cars just stopping and throwing their car into reverse if they think a gap big enough for parking becomes present then they take another 5 minutes trying to manouvre their vehicle into the parking spot. It would not be an easy suburb to re-arrange i think because the next thoroughfare to bypass Campsie is quite a far distance and the rest is cut up by the railway line.

cheers brumby33

[zebee]

One reason it's a throughway is the railway line. If they signposted the routes to the Wairoa and Loch St crossings more aggressively and made Beamish 30kmh to make it more obvious it is not good for through traffic it would be better.

Mind you they also need to get rid of the speed humps on both bypasses but I suspect they are there because of impatient drivers.

Problem is that the more traffic calming the more aggro the traffic gets. Most of the locals cycle on the footpaths I'm usually the only road cyclist I see. The roads are narrow and calmed within an inch of their lives to there's not a lot of safe passing. Meaning I get a fair bit of unsafe passing! Especially on 2nd Ave/Lees where I have to take the lane in self defence bettween dooring and bad sightlines and people roaring past then slamming on the brakes in front of me when they see the speed hump. Either side of the Wairoa underpass is also dreadful for impatient drivers who want to pass and try when they shouldn't, and as for Loch St... it's theoretically a bicycle route! Steepest roads in the area, humps, roundabouts, and parked cars...

[Retrobyte]

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/dan ... 5d9c9.html

‘Dangerous to ride’: The suburbs getting $39m to turn drivers into cyclists
ByAndrew Taylor
May 21, 2023 — 5.00am
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The Cooks River provides a scenic cycling route as it meanders through Sydney’s inner west towards Botany Bay, but Transport Minister Jo Haylen is often on edge while riding along its banks.

“I often feel a bit nervous about riding my electric bike along parts when there’s lots of other people riding past and plenty of kids, dogs and ibis to dodge,” she said.

Crossing the river can also be nerve-wracking, Haylen said. “The current bridges are only about as wide as a set of handlebars, it’s just not safe.”

The Minns government will provide $3 million for the upgrade of bike and pedestrian paths along the Cooks River, including $1 million for a new bridge at Tasker Park in Canterbury – one of more than 80 projects allocated $39 million under the Get NSW Active program.

Other cycling and walking projects to receive funding include the 2.6-kilometre Norwest Boulevard shared path ($3.1 million) and footpath improvements along Wentworth Park Road in Glebe ($2.25 million).

Haylen said the government wanted to provide residents in Sydney’s car-centric suburbs with safer footpaths and cycleways to schools, parks, railway stations and local shops.

“With cars travelling at higher speeds, it can be quite dangerous to ride through suburban Sydney without the safety of dedicated infrastructure, especially when drivers aren’t expecting to see you out on the road,” she said.

Funding for new walking and bike paths will be given to councils such as the City of Canterbury Bankstown, which wants to reduce trips made by private vehicles from 70 per cent to 30 per cent while boosting active transport from 2.5 per cent to more than 10 per cent of journeys.

The councLoadingil in Sydney’s south-west has about 75 kilometres of off-road shared paths, a spokeswoman said. “Unfortunately, much of our network is disconnected, making the journey of travelling from one side of the LGA to the other on bike quite complex.”

She said a lack of dedicated bike paths was the biggest challenge for cyclists in the area: “This means cyclists often have to ride on the road and share paths with pedestrians.”

Haylen said it was easier to build new walking and cycling infrastructure outside inner-city Sydney: “We’re not having to re-engineer narrow inner-city roads, we have plenty of room to work with.”

The projects may also face less opposition – inner-city residents and business owners have often opposed new cycleways due to concerns about construction impacts and the loss of car parking.

Haylen said the previous government wasted a lot of time and money “going back and forth, laying cycleways in the inner city, ripping them up and then laying them again”.

“That would have been a real distraction from the dire need to invest in walking and cycling infrastructure on greenfield sites,” she said.

NSW Greens active transport spokeswoman Kobi Shetty said the state government spent less than 1 per cent of its transport budget on walking paths and cycleways: “Given the United Nations has called on countries to invest at least 20 per cent of these budgets – this is nowhere near enough.”

Bicycle NSW chief executive Peter McLean said active transport infrastructure had often been forgotten or treated as an afterthought: “Private road and infrastructure owners and developers don’t have any reason to build effective active transport infrastructure as this does not benefit shareholders.”

McLean, who lives in south-west Sydney, said the outer suburbs are very car-centric because of a lack of safe walking and cycling paths.

“I am also a parent with young kids, and parents are worried about kids cycling because of the traffic,” he said.

Despite these challenges, McLean said he could often reach destinations during peak hours on his bicycle more quickly than it would take him in a car.

WalkSydney president Lena Huda welcomed the funding but said $39 million was “nowhere near enough” to build the footpaths and pedestrian crossings necessary to make walking easier and more attractive.

Huda said the Perrottet government spent $117 million under its active transport program – projects worth another $100 million missed out on funding.

“Unfortunately, governments’ underinvestment in crossings, footpaths and cycleways means there are still too many places where people don’t have the options to leave the car at home,” she said.

Huda said cheap initiatives such as lowering speed limits on local streets to 30km/h and automated pedestrian phasing at signals would improve pedestrian safety.

[g-boaf]

Crossing the river can also be nerve-wracking, Haylen said. “The current bridges are only about as wide as a set of handlebars, it’s just not safe.”

Noooo! Don't touch those bridges and narrow sections, they are part of the charm and heritage. Much like Heffron:

https://m.facebook.com/randwickcycling/ ... 98/?type=3

People actually don't want that resurfaced. Even better the suggestion for the cobbled section (sarcasm of course).

I'm hoping they can eventually link up Cooks river path with the western Sydney paths when Cumberland Council completes the expansion of the path from Guildford eastwards.

[zebee]

The Minns government will provide $3 million for the upgrade of bike and pedestrian paths along the Cooks River, including $1 million for a new bridge at Tasker Park in Canterbury – one of more than 80 projects allocated $39 million under the Get NSW Active program.

that's sorta strange really. Yes that bridge is a bit of a pain but it also doesn't really go anywhere! Once you cross it you are either on a shockingly badly designed underpass route under the railway[1] or you are trying to work out where to go to get out of Tasker park. Is that a bike path? Is that a footpath? Is that a <aagh splat!> road?

Theory says the Metro are supposed to build a route up the south side of South Pde to Beamish St then wave some kind of magic wand to get you up the one car wide Lilian Lane (one way the other direction with a car park exit on one side) past the station and then somehow somewhere else. Lots of dotted lines on maps. If they did that then is is their bloody railway line so they can work out how people are supposed to get to said bike path from this $1m bridge without getting snotted by people barrelling through the Wairoa underpass which has hopeless sight lines. A bit of green paint and a sign tucked away somewhere I guess.



[1] I mean it isn't as if you might get more than a couple of people wanting to go both ways along an 18" wide "path" with a 6" kerb on one side and a chunk of concrete armco on the other then go up a ramp 90deg to line of travel up said kerb then another 90deg turn. So it's fine!

[Retrobyte]

that's sorta strange really. Yes that bridge is a bit of a pain but it also doesn't really go anywhere! Once you cross it you are either on a shockingly badly designed underpass route under the railway[1] or you are trying to work out where to go to get out of Tasker park. Is that a bike path? Is that a footpath? Is that a <aagh splat!> road?

Yes, normally if you're on the Cooks River path you don't need to use that bridge, because the "main" route is the 1m wide underpass

But while the underpass was closed last year for widening the path there (not sure if it is still closed at the moment) the detour was across that bridge, so it will have had a lot of extra bike traffic for a number of month. This may have generated a lot more interest and probably more complaints and "suggestions". I didn't complain, but when I last rode that path last year when the detour was in place I broke a rib entering the bridge from the northern side because I wasn't expecting the "chicane" that narrows the bridge entrance and overbalanced at walking pace, landing on the fence rail. Totally my fault though - I should have dismounted.

[zebee]

The pass under the river is closed for widening, the pass under the railway line is still its old "we must do something, this is something, we will do this" self.
If you are someone who has a trailer full of kids or rides anything wider then your shoulders you can't use it so have to climb a vertical hill onto the middle of a U shaped road meaning no one can see you till too late.