Unley Road bike lanes face dead end under new plan
Bike lanes would be removed from busy Unley Road under a proposal to widen it to five lanes with a median strip, with a bike-riding local mayor saying he now finds it too dangerous for cycling.
Unley Council has pitched increasing the number of lanes on Unley Road from four to five to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, along with a new median strip to to allow right turns without stopping traffic.
The change would likely require removing narrow bike lanes from each side of Unley Road as the department has already indicated it will not widen the road.
An Unley Council spokesperson said the department was considering the feasibility of a “raised solid median” with right-hand turn slots.
“At this time, the Council is working with DIT to ascertain the feasibility of potential changes and no decisions have been made,” they said.
“Once the investigations have been completed, Council will consider the matter formally and resolve at that time how – and if – it wishes to proceed.”
A department spokesperson confirmed the council has approached them with “a number of upgrades for Unley Road”, which was used by up to 28,000 vehicles a day.
“We will continue to discuss these proposals with the Council as their proposal progresses,” the spokesperson said.
Unley Council has sought support for the median upgrade from neighbouring Mitcham Council, which voted unanimously on June 25 to support an Unley Road upgrade and that it “must include consideration of the construction of a median to enable right-hand turns”.
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Unley Mayor Michael Hewitson said that he appreciated Mitcham Council’s support for “the proposal to remove bike lanes from Unley Road”.
“This will enable more consistent traffic flow rather than having right-hand turns blocking the right-hand lane and parking bays blocking the left-hand lane, which cause Unley Road to be unfit for purpose,” Hewitson wrote in a letter published last week.
Hewitson, a cyclist, also urged Mitcham Council to upgrade the Rugby-Porter Bikeway which runs parallel to Unley Road from the CBD down through Unley and Mitcham.
“I understand there were concerns that the removal of bike lanes will result in the Rugby-Porter Bikeway being the only safe route for cyclists from Mitcham and Unley to move north and south,” he said.
The Unley Mayor said he received “many complaints” from Mitcham and Unley residents that cyclists on the “Mitcham side” of the Rugby-Porter Bikeway are “obliged to stop at every second street intersection due to both give way and stop signs”.
“Please raise this issue with your Council with the aim of giving cyclists right-of-way along Rugby Street until the end of the bikeway towards Belair Road,” Hewitson said.
The proposal to remove bike lanes on Unley Road has come as a surprise to cycling and active transport advocates, after an earlier letter from the Unley Mayor in April did not canvass it as part of an Unley Road upgrade.
UniSA transport researcher Jennifer Bonham, an Unley councillor, criticised the idea in a post to the Unley Bicycle Users Facebook group on Sunday, saying it was “at odds” with the council’s successful push to cut the speed limit on Unley Road from 60km/h to 50km/h.
She said efforts to improve traffic flow would “worsen conditions for pedestrians and cyclists wanting to cross Unley Road” and “reinforce the role of Unley Road as a traffic corridor further undermining businesses along the road”.
“It ignores the fact that Bike Riders will continue to use Unley Road to visit shops and for a convenient and efficient journey over longer distances,” she wrote.
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“It simply takes away the nod to safety provided by the bike lanes operating at peak hour.”
Bonham, who stressed she was not speaking on behalf of council, later told InDaily she was worried about the impact removing bike lanes could have on future urban developments slated for Unley Road.
A $150 million apartment, office, cinema and shopping precinct is currently planned for the Target store and car park near Unley Shopping Centre, while a seven-storey apartment complex was last year approved for 108 Unley Road.
“I think we really need to actually think about what that road is going to be about, and what is the best, most sustainable, most equitable way of moving people along that corridor if we’re going to have higher intensity development,” Bonham said.
Bonham pressed Hewitson about the matter at Unley Council’s Tuesday meeting.
The Unley Mayor said his letter to Mitcham Council urging them to improve the Rugby-Porter bikeway was written “in the context of the importance of doing it if there is no bikeway on Unley Road”.
“I have taken up the issue because I remembered we’ve had a couple of deaths in the last 10 years on Unley Road,” he told council.
Hewitson said he no longer cycles down the key city gateway because it’s too dangerous.
“I nearly got bowled over a couple of times with motorists coming out and sticking their nose out into the bike lane to see whether they could go across the car lanes,” he said, recalling a bike ride to the Mitcham Council chamber.
“I got a bit of a shock twice at going up just for that one trip.
“I therefore now go up the Rugby-Porter Bikeway, so it’s a letter to… request to Mitcham to get Mitcham to improve their bikeway.”
Daniel Grilli, chair of the Unley Bike Users Group, a cycling and pedestrian advocacy organisation, said bike lane removal plans were “a little bit disheartening to hear” after earlier moves to lower the speed limit and upgrade its footpaths.
“If there’s a median and if it results in a way better pedestrian experience… that could be a good thing overall combined with the upgrade of the (Rugby-Porter) bikeway,” he said, adding that Rugby-Porter was “one of the best” bikeways in Adelaide.
“But if it’s just speeding up the cars a bit, freer flow, remove the bike lanes and not… an improvement for walking, it would be disappointing.
“But it’s early to say. I think everyone’s a bit surprised.”
