Jo Pybus, in red vest, and Dr Simon Copland at the Pedal Power call for a separated cycleway on Northbourne Avenue. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The government’s failure to install a separated cycle lane on Northbourne Avenue could leave them exposed to legal action, according to a Canberra woman whose husband is still recovering from being hit by a car on the busy corridor in September 2022.
Jo Pybus joined Pedal Power ACT executive director Simon Copland and supporters today outside Transport Canberra and City Services offices in Dickson to call on the government to reactivate plans for separated cycleways.
She said her husband, Paul O’Dwyer, suffered spinal injuries, had a seizure and had to be put into an induced coma at the side of the road.
“That could have meant any number of things, and we had a long wait to see what the outcome might be,” Ms. said.
“I’m so grateful that last December, after 14 months, we got good news [about his recovery], but it was really difficult.
“The thought that it happened four years after the government knew in their own documents that Northbourne Avenue needed a protected cycleway is mind-boggling.”
Ms Pybus was referring to the 2018 City and Gateways Urban Design Framework, which promised a separate cycleway on Northbourne Avenue, but it had apparently been shelved, and the initiative had disappeared from the latest Active Travel Plan.
She said the government had a duty of care to the cyclists who used Northbourne Avenue, particularly when its policies encouraged people to ride their bikes instead of taking the car.
“In the last couple of years, Canberra had a lot of rain and a lot of potholes, and the government was found liable in some circumstances for paying people for the danger to their cars from potholes,” she said.
“I want to know what happens to a government that knows this road is a black spot for cyclists, that knows statistically people are getting injured on this road, when the next cyclist is injured or even killed on Northbourne Avenue.
“What culpability is the government going to have? I suggest you go and see your lawyer if it’s you who gets knocked off your bike.”
Paul O’Dwyer and Jo Pybus: the government has a duty of care to cyclists using Northbourne Avenue. Photo: Pedal Power ACT/Facebook.
Dr Copland said Northbourne Avenue was an accident waiting to happen and was rated the most dangerous road in Canberra for cyclists.
He said Pedal Power was putting the issue on the 2024 election agenda.
“We think it should be a priority. You’ve got to look where the most danger is,” Dr Copland said.
He said Northbourne Avenue could afford to reduce a lane to accommodate a separated cycleway with a barrier, but the design was up to government engineers.
“That trade-off is really worth it because it will encourage more people to be on bikes, which is fewer people in cars, which means less congestion on our roads,” Dr Copland said.
He said that if the road was made safer, many of the thousands of new residents along the corridor would be encouraged to ride bikes.
Dr Copland believed motorists would welcome being separated from cyclists and for those potentially dangerous interactions, where one mistake could be life-changing, to be removed.
Ms Pybus said the woman driver who swerved into her husband was evading another car whose driver didn’t check their blind spot before changing lanes.
“A wider cycling lane with a protected barrier would have meant, at worst, that that driver would be off to the panel beaters and my husband would have arrived home safely,” she said.
“I have spoken to the driver who hit my husband. She was clearly traumatised.”
Dr Copland said the cost of building separated lanes was much cheaper than the hundreds of millions of dollars of road construction going on around Canberra.
“We think it’s reasonable to say that we can invest some money in cycling infrastructure,” he said.
However, the sticking point seems to be the disruption such a project would bring to the corridor, which is also impacted by the apartment construction.
A separated cycleway in the Sydney CBD. Pedal Power said something like this would save lives on Northbourne Avenue. Photo: Pedal Power ACT.
Dr Copland said that wasn’t good enough, adding Northbourne Avenue was a dangerous road with a number of known accidents that had caused serious injuries to cyclists.
“If we we had another black spot on our road network that was causing crashes, the government would be quick to invest to stop that from happening, yet when it comes to crashes involving cyclists, they’re more concerned about disruption for cars,” he said.
“We think that the safety of cyclists should be put first.”
Dr Copland rejected the government’s view that cyclists could take other, safer routes in the inner north, saying they took longer while Northbourne Avenue was the most direct and convenient route.
“That’s why people use it,” he said. “It’s unfair to expect that cyclists should have to take a longer route to be able to get to work in the morning.”
Dr Copland said there were separated cycle lanes on roads like Northbourne Avenue all around the world and any problems were solvable.
A government spokesperson said Northbourne Avenue is scheduled for upgrades as part of future network expansions and may be considered for a future quick-build trial.
However, this would not include removing a traffic lane from one of Canberra’s main arterial roads.
“Given the complexity of the Northbourne Avenue corridor, with multiple intersections and speed zones, light rail, and National Capital Authority approval oversight, it is essential that lessons from these trials and other feasibility and design initiatives are considered,” the spokesperson said.
Greens MLA Jo Clay, who attended today’s rally, said the Greens would take an active travel program to the election, including infrastructure such as separated cycleways.
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