Six walking and cycling projects funded!
Last Friday we awoke to the fantastic news that six walking and cycling projects in and around the Unley area had won funding totalling over four and a half million dollars! This funding has come from both the State Bicycle Fund and the State/National Road Safety fund. The projects funded in Unley are for the most part ones that we have been looking forwards to for a long time but have awaiting funding so that they could proceed to construction. However, there are some surprises in there too!
Here’s our breakdown of the projects receiving funding and why each is going to make Unley an even better place for people of all ages and abilities to get around by walking, wheeling or cycling:
Mike Turtur Bikeway: Tram line to Greenhill Rd
So many people have told us that the worst part of the otherwise fantastic Mike Turtur Bikeway is the short stretch between the separated bike path along the tramline and Greenhill Rd. It’s currently not ideal in either direction: people riding are forced to either mix it with fast-moving and merging car traffic or ride on a bumpy, narrow shared use footpath and risk running into people at the bus stop. If you’re riding south from the city, you have to brave an inadequate on-road bike lane and hope that cars will let you in as you sprint to try and find a gap large enough to turn right to join the separated bikeway along the tram line. Little wonder most cyclists take their safety into their own hands and cross at the lights – or avoid the area altogether.
Improvements to this stretch of road have been consulted on from as far back as 2020. The new design that has received funding improves significantly on the current situation by:
- Increasing the width of the northbound separated path to a consistent 4m from the tram line to the traffic lights. This path is two-way so can be used by cyclists travelling south too.
- Retains on-road bike bike boxes heading north for more confident cyclists.
- Provides a buffer to the on-road bike lane travelling south.
- Introduces two new pedestrian crossings with centre refuge islands: one near the tram stop (yay!) and another, wide one that will allow people cycling to more safely cross into the tram line bike path when heading south. It looks like there will be a safer spot to wait to turn right here also.
- Many new trees!
You can see the most recent detailed design here:
We still have some questions about the minutiae of the final design – how, for example, are people intended to turn right across Greenhill Rd to access the Parklands Trail? – but this is a very exciting project that will dramatically improve a ‘weak link’ in the Mike Turtur Bikeway. Especially, that is, when you consider the next two projects that have won funding!
King William Rd Short-term cycling improvements
As teased in last month’s newsletter. Great to see council applying for funding to make any and all improvements to our streets, not matter how small!
These bike lanes have actually been installed already and have contributed in a big way to how safe this stretch King William Rd feels. No, painted lanes aren’t the best solution, but they’ll do just fine in connecting several of our key bikeways while a more permanent solution is prepared for when this section of road is re-done altogether.
Hop over to our Facebook page to see a video of the new lanes in action!
Peacock Rd Separated Bike Lanes
One of the most exciting surprises in the funding annoucement was $500,000 for this project for “Separated Bike Lanes for the Mike Turtur Bikeway on Peacock Rd”. No, this isn’t technically in the City of Unley, but this stretch of road connects directly to the improvements to the Mike Turtur Bikeway near Greenhill Rd that are mentioned above and are an important link between Unley and the City of Adelaide.
We hope this project is no more and no less than it says on the tin: a separated bike lane in each direction along Peacock Rd that will give people cycling to and from Unley a safe and convenient connection from South Tce all the way to, well, Glenelg! We’re especially chuffed to see this project announced as it is something that Unley BUG has lobbied the City of Adelaide for in the past, given it is a route so heavily used by Unley residents.
Railway Tce South Walking / Cycling Improvements
The Mike Turtur Bikeway is a winner yet again! First put out for consultation in 2022, these improvements aim to create a safe and welcoming environment for cycling and especially walking along Railway Tce South, Goodwood. We’d heard that this project was on hold while the State Government figured out what they were going to do regarding widening of the arches under the tramline, but hope that this funding announcement means this project is back on track to happen soon. Any and all improvements to this area are welcome since the overpass was cancelled…
Thomas-Mornington Intersection Improvements
This intersection along the little-known but very convenient Unley Neighbourhood Bicycle Route (running north-south between King William Rd and Unley Rd) has been slated for an upgrade since 2023. Through targeted improvements, this difficult to navigate intersection is set to be transformed to make it easier to walk and cycle through, while at the same time increasing the amount of green space. Win-win-win!
Parklands Trail – Glen Osmond Rd Crossing
The final project we want to talk about is one that isn’t in Unley but will be very familiar to many cyclists of Unley: the crossing of Glen Osmond Rd along the Park Lands Trail. Connecting the Rugby-Porter Bikeway in Unley with the Frome Bikeway in the City of Adelaide, this crossing is well-used by both commuters and recreational cyclists alike.
Regular users of this crossing will know that the centre island often gets jammed up with cyclists, joggers, people with prams and people walking, leading to dangerous situations where people have to stand on the road amongst fast-moving car traffic. The volunteer counting this crossing at this year’s Super Tuesday bike count called it ‘an accident waiting to happen’.
The funding provides for a bicycle / pedestrian activated crossing (aka traffic lights) to be installed here. If the design and operation is anything like the new crossing of the same trail at nearby Hutt Rd, this project is going to be a fantastic improvement to one of Adelaide’s busiest cycling routes.
To conclude, it’s fantastic news that so many of the newly-announced funding benefits people walking and cycling in and around Unley. But Unley’s success in this round of funding is no accident. Unley Council has a regularly-updated Walking and Cycling Plan and consistently allocates funding to priority projects in the plan, allowing council to be ready to apply for funding opportunities when they arise. Make sure to let your councilors know how much you value the work Unley is doing to make our city the best place in South Australia for walking and cycling. It makes a difference!
Wilberforce Walk S4 Consultation
Consultation recently closed on proposed Stage 4 improvements to Wilberforce Walk between Nairne Tce and Leah St. At a big picture level, this one project proposes to connect the excellent-but-isolated Wilberforce Walk shared use path with the wider Unley cycling network via the Marino Rocks Greenway.
Unley BUG committee members visited the site of the proposed project to examine and discuss ways this already great proposal could be made even better.You can view our submission to council here.
Super Tuesday Count
Unley BUG assisted again this year in the annual Super Tuesday bicycle count on Tuesday the 5th of March. As in the past few years, our members stepped up big time to count cyclists riding to work between 7am and 9am – we had 17 volunteers! Many volunteers remark to us that they quite enjoyed their time being out in the community counting people walking and cycling. We’ll be assisting again next year, so keep your eyes out for the call to volunteers. We promise it will be fun!
You can view last year’s results on the Bike Adelaide website and on this interactive map.
Social Ride Photos
Frequent social ride attendee and all-around good guy Andrew has shared with us again some of the photos he’s taken at our recent Saturday social ride. Thanks Andrew! If you’d like to join us for a fun, casual ride exploring Unley and surrounds, join us on either:
- Weekly social rides, Tuesdays 9:30am, meeting at Unley Community Centre
- Monthly social rides, first Saturday of the Month, 9am departure, meeting at Unley Town Hall carpark.
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