Roadblock in Adelaide pop-up bike lane plan
A $150,000 CBD trial is attracting backlash as debate over city car parking heats up. It comes hot on the wheels of free parking discussions.
A pop-up bike lane meant to coincide with next year’s Tour Down Under (TDU) attracted the ire of councillors at Tuesday night’s Adelaide City Council committee meeting.
The $150,000 plan would see a three-week installation of pop-up protected lanes using traffic cones and plastic bollards replace existing on-road cycle lane and provide safer cycling infrastructure.
Wakefield Street was identified by council administration as the prime location for the trial due to its “broad boulevards” and minimal retail compared to other city streets, minimising the impact on businesses.
The initial pilot project was expected to be around 500 metres and run along Wakefield Street between Victoria Square to Chancery Lane or between Frome Street and Pulteney Street.
But Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith criticised the plans, saying it would result in the loss of on-street car parking and create traffic congestion.
“I think this whole design is embedding the conflict between parkers and cyclists, and it’s unfortunate that the design is just to take car parks out and replace them with a bicycle lane,” Lomax-Smith said.
“This seems to me to be a business as usual example of what a bicycle track would be without it being really innovative or imaginative, and it’s such a short distance, and it doesn’t really tell us anything clever.
“It’s not a game changer for cyclists, and it doesn’t seem a game changer for drivers. It doesn’t, for me, feel like a useful thing to do and I can’t believe that this is really what we want to do.”
Last week, the council green lit plans to investigate free parking options amid a decline in city foot traffic.
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This would explore the possibility of two-hour free parking at UPark facilities for those buying from local businesses, alongside a review into free on-street parking on weekends.
Council estimated the total revenue for on-street parking for this financial year would be $2.2 million.
Earlier this year, the Adelaide City Council passed a motion to investigate pop-up bike lanes in the CBD to support fuel-free transportation in response to surging fuel prices amid war in the Middle East.
Pop-up bike lanes have been trialled in other major Australian cities, with Sydney introducing the lanes during the COVID-19 pandemic to give inner-city commuters a travel alternative with reduced public transport – and have stayed in use six years later.
City of Adelaide director of city infrastructure Tom McCready said the administration had anticipated opposition but would still progress with the plans.
“From our perspective, during TDU you get a large amount of cyclists who are coming into the city,” McCready said.
“Linking it to that event, we believe that it was a quick win, an easy win to be able to show that we can pilot a pop-up within the location and also get a form of buy-in.
“We considered a lot of options. I’ve heard the commentary tonight. Whatever we do, there will be impacts to parking, there will be impacts to traffic flow. That’s what we’re saying.”
City councillors will vote on a motion to implement the trial at next Tuesday night’s meeting. However, council would still require approvals from the SA Tourism Commission who organise the TDU event to install the pop-up infrastructure.
Alternative CBD streets flagged by council administration include Pirie Street, Rundle Street and West Terrace between Anzac Highway and Sturt Street.
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