Canberrans embracing elevated parking on Rudd Street

troll-sniffer said :

Funny thing is that not a whole lot of people were using the embryonic cycleways in the Netherlands when they were introduced decades ago. No doubt there were hordes of naysayers and other groups of Luddites jumping up and down about the waste of money and the loss of vehicle-only spaces. History is a great teacher if you’re prepared to open your minds just a little.

The troll sniffs damp air.
Luddites jump off their horses
And attack the cars.

guy said :

For about $2 million per kilometre, this bike path should be gold plated, not bitumen and concrete.

I was going to argue that point, but instead I concede!

2.5km of path, at 2m wide and 0.5 microns deep ( Gold Plating = 0.5 microns deep ) where 0.5 microns = 1/2000th of a millimeter.

Equals 2,500,000 cubic millimeters of gold required for plating.

The dimensions of 1kg gold bars from The Perth Mint are 112x52x9 (millimeters) or 52,416 cubic millimeters.

So to gold plate a path as above requires 47.7 1kg bars.

At $1600 an ounce, with 32.148 ounces to a kilo, that’s $51,436.8 per bar.

$2.4m.

Though I still think Green paint is more practical.

Jono said :

Grail said :

… it’s an offence to ride within 10m of an open store or business doorway.

I’d be interested to have you provide a pointer to the legislation which makes that an offence.

I have a memory that there used to be provision similar to that in the road rules in the ACT prior to the change to the Australian Road Rules in 1999, but I’m not aware of anything like that which applies any more.

I remember it as being “within 10m of an open shop”, no mention of business, with neither shop nor open being defined anywhere. Think it was dropped with the 2nd edition of the National Road Rules.
How you could tell if a shop was open from 10m away was another matter.

In my post I did neglect to mention (downside of writing on an iphone) the loading zone for the business on Rudd st that was also removed (no replacement) and the taxi rank closest to the Jolimont bus station also moved for inconvenience of visitors to this city 50m across the road to Moore St, also limiting the very small area that allowed people to drop off/ pick up people for the coaches. But as long as people can’t find a short term carpark, having nowhere to safely stop doesn’t matter either.

I would like to point out that I have no issue constructing a bike path segregated on road, it is safer than the government’s attempts at on road lanes. What I expect is the construction to be done in a sensible, well planned and cost effective manner.

This project has not been any of the above. What could have been a simple project, with minimal impact on the city by building it into the existing pathways, has turned into a massive project which has taken a very long time to build, with little thought of the disruption to other transport options and at a significant cost.

Keijidosha said :

I had assumed (incorrectly as it turns out) that these cycle paths were going to be at road level, separated by a low concrete dividing curb. Instead we get this Dukes of Hazzard-style path that alternates between road and footpath level, defying any logical explanation.

dtc said :

Hopefully these paths will open soon. That said, I’m not sure how you are meant to get from Barry Drive to Rudd St ( without riding on the footpath or road.

Probably via the runway-width cycle path that has been built in front of the Lena Karmel building between Barry Drive and the Marcus Clarke/Rudd Street intersection.

Yeah, sorry, meant between Rudd St and Allsop St. Its only a short way so no big deal, but they managed to build the new bus shelter right in the narrowest part of the footpath and, as far as I can tell, there isnt going to be a bike lane there (unless its going to be painted on the road).

As to why the cycle path is elevated, mostly – does anyone know? Is it meant to be safer?

Grail said :

… it’s an offence to ride within 10m of an open store or business doorway.

I’d be interested to have you provide a pointer to the legislation which makes that an offence.

I have a memory that there used to be provision similar to that in the road rules in the ACT prior to the change to the Australian Road Rules in 1999, but I’m not aware of anything like that which applies any more.

troll-sniffer said :

Funny thing is that not a whole lot of people were using the embryonic cycleways in the Netherlands when they were introduced decades ago. No doubt there were hordes of naysayers and other groups of Luddites jumping up and down about the waste of money and the loss of vehicle-only spaces. History is a great teacher if you’re prepared to open your minds just a little.

This troll is way below the quality of your usual stuff. Is the horse reiki having undesirable side effects?

dtc said :

guy said :

I just found out this is costing us $6 million bucks !!!!

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/work-starts-on-6m-cycle-loop-around-civic-20120711-21wn7.html

For only 2.5 km (that’s two and a half kilometres) of bike path. That’s $1.875 million per kilometre, or $1875 per linear metre!!!!

For about $2 million per kilometre, this bike path should be gold plated, not bitumen and concrete.

Maybe you should get into road building.

I’m not sure if you are complaining about $6m being spent on cyclists or agree with the concept but not the cost

For anyone in the former category (which may not be you), then compare to the $288m being spent on motorists just for the Majura Parkway alone.

Another comparison is the GDE at roughly $22 million per km.

I had assumed (incorrectly as it turns out) that these cycle paths were going to be at road level, separated by a low concrete dividing curb. Instead we get this Dukes of Hazzard-style path that alternates between road and footpath level, defying any logical explanation.

dtc said :

Hopefully these paths will open soon. That said, I’m not sure how you are meant to get from Barry Drive to Rudd St ( without riding on the footpath or road.

Probably via the runway-width cycle path that has been built in front of the Lena Karmel building between Barry Drive and the Marcus Clarke/Rudd Street intersection.

guy said :

For about $2 million per kilometre, this bike path should be gold plated, not bitumen and concrete.

Isn’t that approaching the cost of railways (per kilometre)? Not to mention tramways.