Bicycle Network Victoria: Ride On magazine

Doggone menace

Apr-May 2011

I avoid off-road bike tracks because there are so many unrestrained dogs on the loose. It’s safer for me to ride on the roads than to use the Merri Creek bike path. In Moreland (not sure about other councils) dogs are supposed to be on a leash on or within five metres of the shared path. Most dog owners are totally ignorant of this regulation.

They also seem to have no regard for the safety of not only cyclists, but also their own dogs. Actually, the term shared path is a joke; many dog owners seem to think that they are there for the exclusive use of them and their dog. I have come off my bike only three times in the last five years. Two involved dogs on a shared path. For me this is the biggest cycling issue there is.

Andrew Stewart, Coburg, VIC

Strange choice

February 2011

I am a recreational rider who enjoys reading Ride On and was hoping that you or your readers might offer some insight into the following. My daily drive to work involves travelling along Beaconsfield Parade along the beach from St Kilda to Port Melbourne.

In between the road and the beach is, in my opinion, one of the best cycle paths in Melbourne. It is smooth, wide, flat, not too busy and not shared with pedestrians, who have a separate path a few metres away. Despite this, I regularly see cyclists choosing to ride on the road, placing themselves at increased risk and causing severe traffic disruption during peak hour travel times, when there is a dedicated bike lane mere centimetres away.

Why do riders choose not to utilise this fantastic path, and how can we expect to be able to convince the Government to put more money into this type of infrastructure when it is blatantly ignored by so many of the people it is there to serve?

Renee Webster, Cheltenham, VIC
 

Signage not good enough

21 September 2009

When a new freeway opens motorists take for granted that they know what it’s called, and that there are instantly recognisable signs telling them where it goes, how far this is, and where all the exits lead. Things are very different when a new off-road trail opens.

I’ve recently cycled two new trails for the first time. The first was the 9km trail alongside the new section of the Western Fwy which bypasses Deer Park. I approached it via the Western Ring Rd Trail. Fortunately I knew that it starts at Fitzgerald Rd as no help was to be had from signs where the two trails part company here. Nor was there a sign at the pedestrian lights you need to cross.

Having overcome these difficulties to reach the start of the new trail, the user is then confronted with not one sign naming it, but two. On one side of the path a large metal board proclaims it to be the ‘Wellness Trail’, the name which appears in Melway 2010. On the other is a low wooden sign bearing the rather more helpful name ‘Western Fwy Path’. The second type of signage is used consistently at road crossings along the trail while the first appears only twice, at either end.

Things are considerably worse on the other new trail that runs for 12km alongside the Geelong Ring Road. The only signs I spotted along the full length of this trail, were a few wooden boards bearing the name ‘Ted Wilson Trail’ and some large information boards at the southern end which deserved careful study but did not provide simple directions. There were no directional signs at all at the northern end of the trail, nor at intersections along the way. Now Ted Wilson is very worthy of having this trail named in his honour, but trail users need a bit more assistance in finding their way onto, along and off this trail. Even line-marking, which can identify the main trail at intersections, is misleading on this trail.

This problem is not confined to newly constructed trails. There are many further examples I could quote of absent, inadequate or downright misleading signage, even on our best, most established trails.

It is surely not unreasonable to expect the following:

• A single name that is used consistently for each main trail
• A standard design for signage – blue and white metal signs are becoming standard in many parts of the world including Western Australia
• Signs at either end of a trail providing its name, an indication of where it goes and the distance in kilometres – both the ultimate destination and the nearest intermediate destination are desirable on long distance trails
• Signs at all intersections, identifying the main trail and indicating where the others go. At the very least line marking should identify the main trail.
• Signs naming all roads/streets which the trail crosses over or under, providing cyclists with a sense of where they are in relation to the world outside the trail Some local councils are doing excellent work on the sections of trails for which they are responsible. However many trails pass through several municipalities leading to inconsistencies in both naming and signage.

If our state government is serious about encouraging cycling as a mode of transport they need to offer more leadership on this issue. We need a central authority to register names of trails, and to set standards for signing them. Those constructing new trails must be required to conform to these standards, and existing trails must be gradually upgraded to match.

Motorists would be justly outraged if they reached a major intersection and found no signage to guide them. For cyclists on the off-road network this is a regular occurrence. It’s not good enough.

Julia Blunden

Hawthorn VIC

Roadworks hazardous

5 June 2009

Commuting to and from the city continues to be made interesting by the construction team on the Monash upgrade – particularly when it concerns bike lanes and paths!

At about 6:20pm on Tuesday 2 June traffic was stopped for the boom gates at Tooronga. As I travelled down the bike lane of the Tooronga Road bridge a Monash Alliance construction vehicle cut through the traffic in front of me, mounted the kerb and proceeded to drive with two wheels in the bike lane and two on the footpath down to Carroll Crescent where it turned left (nearly knocking over a pedestrian in the process).

Had I been a little bit earlier or been travelling any faster I would have ended up on the vehicle’s bonnet!

Sadly this is just one of many incidents we apparently have to put up with while waiting patiently for the work to finish, the bridge at East Malvern is reinstated and the bike path from Great Valley Road to Tooronga is finally reopened!

David Price

Melbourne VIC

Heed the close call

16 April 08

A near miss with another rider on a bike path this morning was a reminder for me about the dangers of not paying attention when on a bike. As a regular commuter, I have had a few close calls with motorists (and riders) who have failed to see me, but today I was at fault. I failed to keep checking the path ahead while overtaking other cyclists, and nearly ran into a rider coming the other way. Fortunately, they were alert enough to avoid a collision, but it could have been serious. I was pretty embarrassed at such a mistake as I consider myself to be an "experienced" rider, but it is exactly that thinking that leads to a lack of attention.

Chris Clarke

Thornbury VIC

Country hazards

14 April 08

People who have the regular use of bike paths may not realise how lucky they are. I have ridden the Gardiner’s Creek and Yarra Trails to the city several times and think how great it is to ride without worrying about traffic hazards (other than unleashed dogs!)

I normally ride on country roads where not only do I have to be aware of cars, cattle trucks, log trucks and other transport vehicles; I also have the occasional livestock and wildlife hazards to contend with. From July to October it’s the magpies. During the Summer months I watch out for snakes warming themselves on the road. And, I occasionally avoid wombats or kangaroos.

Lorraine Whitehead

Eildon VIC

Signage ‘terrible’

20 March 08

The direction signs on our bike/ pedestrian paths are terrible. Of course some paths have great signs, but I have yet to find a track with decent signs from start to finish. Maybe part of the solution could be to utilise the local BUGs to liaise with the councils and offer to paint directions on the (sealed) paths, as these are much less likely to be vandalised and are much more cost-effective than signposts. This could start a great two-way relationship with the council. Or we could be proactive and do it anyway.

Roy Munro

Craigieburn VIC