Are we ready for protected cycle lanes?

OXFORD STREET MOUNT HAWTHORN

One of our inner-city local governments, the City of Vincent, is currently modifying the northern section of Oxford Street in Mount Hawthorn.

Google Streetview 2018

This 300 metre "town centre" section has looked unloved compared to the southern section of Oxford Street and the Scarborough Beach Road town centres. It has no street trees and probably had no significant improvement since the 1960s. The City's publicity states the planned works will include:

• 38 street trees for enhanced shade and beautification
• A red asphalt shared-space to denote the town centre area
• A central median for pedestrian refuge and improved walkability
• 2 new motorcycle bay areas to accommodate 4 bikes
• 12 bike racks with locations to be determined in consultation with businesses
• Low profile speed-humps to accommodate a potential 30 km/h zone which will improve safety and town centre amenity

As usual, with local government street upgrades, the aim is to "improve visitor, pedestrian and cyclist amenity". I have no doubt adding 38 trees will improve the beauty of the street and the experience for pedestrians, but will these changes be better for people cycling?

City of Vincent's "before" and "after" images

People cycling can enjoy the additional shade and more natural environment as much as pedestrians, but adding trees to the centre of the street can make riding more hazardous because they prevent drivers passing safely. As detailed in a previous blog post, raised medians with trees are becoming common in Perth but local governments seem unaware of the negative consequences for cycling. Rather than improving conditions, the central obstructions usually force people cycling to take to the footpaths in order to feel safe. Only the bravest or thick-skinned will ride in a narrow 50 km/h lane in front of motor vehicles.

The photograph below shows concrete medians have been installed ahead of the tree planting. As of today, fourteen central trees have been planted and more trees will be planted between car parking bays very soon.

Oxford Street March 2019

NOT SHARED-SPACE

The City of Vincent is calling this a shared-space and will be adding large cycle symbols to the centre of the travel lane. If this was a genuine attempt at shared-space, the City of Vincent would be removing road markings, signs and kerbs. In this situation, the use of the term shared-space seems to be an attempt to make everyone feel better about the poor provision for cycling.

There are some elements of the shared-space concept that are useful when mixing pedestrians and cycling (e.g. Amsterdam Centraal Station), but I am yet to see an example of a shared-space design that works well when the dominate mode of travel is motor vehicles. 

Even London's relatively famous shared-space Exhibition Road is to be remodelled after the council finally conceded it presented safety problems for vulnerable road users.

Oxford Street will not be a shared-space. It will simply have cycle symbols in the travel lane and some green paint. 

Oxford Street March 2019

A 30 KM/H SPEED LIMIT WILL NOT BE ENOUGH

The City of Vincent are hoping to convince Main Roads WA, who control all speed regulation, to reduced the posted speed limit on this section of street from 50 km/h to 30 km/h. Even if that happens, most people will still not feel safe to cycle on the street. Although a 30 km/h speed limit is considered appropriate when mixing cars with cycling, the volume of each mode must also be considered.

The traffic volume on the southern section of Oxford Street is around 12,000 vehicles per day and this section is probably similar. That's far too many for a successful "bicycle street", or what the Dutch call a Fietsstraat. (CROW guidelines recommend less than 2500 vehicles per day and 1000+ cycles).

Another important design aspect of a successful Fietsstraat is that the street must have sufficient width to allow drivers to pass people cycling.

Oxford Street March 2019

Our Austroads guides also warn against creating travel lanes with widths that create safety problems for cyclists.

"Practice should be that lane widths are either designed to be wide enough in all instances to allow the safe passage of a cyclist and a vehicle side by side (3.7 m or more) or narrow enough to permit the passage of a vehicle or bicycle only (3.0 m or less). Widths in between these two extremes create squeeze points and result in conflicts.” 

Guide to Traffic Management Part 8: Local Area Traffic Management (2016 Edition, p126)

The width of the motor vehicle lanes in the proposal are 3.2 metres with a 1.8m central median, and 2.2m parking bays. However, when measured this week, it seems the concrete median has been narrowed to 1.5m, the travel lanes are 3.5m and the parking bays about 2.1m. Either way, both the 3.2m and 3.5m width are in the specific range that Austroads warn against. 

Unless the person cycling boldly takes the centre of the lane, car drivers will be tempted to squeeze past. Passing will be possible but life threatening.

CAR PARKING VERSUS SAFE STREETS

A solution to the safety problem is obvious to anyone who seen what progressive cities are doing around the world. Protected cycle lanes. To achieve this, the on-street car parking could be removed and cycle lanes put beside the kerb on each side of the street. The City of Vincent know about protected cycle lanes, just around the corner from Oxford Street, a section of Scarborough Beach Road has protected lanes that were installed a couple of years ago. The City should be congratulated for this work, it was a good achievement.

Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn

The Scarborough Beach Road lanes were done in an area with low levels of on-street parking, Oxford Street will be more difficult. Removing parking bays in front of commercial businesses is a tough job. The City of Vincent obviously does not want to take it on, at least, not this time. The publicity on their website has a lot of detail to reassure people that car parking will be prioritised.

"The upgrade requires the loss of 3 car parking bays north of Wilberforce Street and 2 car bays south of Wilberforce Street. To mitigate this loss, the City will negotiate the use of redundant No Stopping Zones to accommodate additional car bays. The City will also review the use of the Oxford Street Car Park and on-street parking along Wilberforce Street to ensure parking efficiencies are maximised and parking availability for town centre visitors is prioritised."

If a city chooses to prioritise car parking it will often be at the expense of safe cycling infrastructure. That's what is happening here.

One strategy for Oxford Street would be to acquire vacant property nearby and provide off-street car parking in exchange for the loss of on-street bays. If the old taxi depot was utilised, the walk from car to shop would be 40 - 180 metres. That's similar to many successful suburban shopping centres.

Former taxi depot, Oxford Street

Karrinyup Shopping Centre

It would be great if local councils got tougher about car parking and more concerned about safety. Imagine. When discussing potential street upgrades with businesses they could offer more trees but explain the car parking needs to move further away. 

 "You can have a beautiful street, which will improve your business, but it also needs to be a safe street. We're a local government, we can't do anything that's not safe. If you want trees, we have to do protected cycle lanes at the same time."

Imagine if creating a street that was unsafe for people cycling was illegal. 

HERE'S ONE PREPARED EARLIER

The design of the Oxford Street upgrade is nothing new. It's basically a repeat of the Mount Hawthorn town-centre section of Scarborough Beach Road nearby. The lane width is the same and it has a slower 40 km/h speed limit.  It looks great, the businesses seem successful, it's quite good for walking, but cycling is shit. How do we know this? It's simple, just go there and watch what people do.

Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn

Even on a quiet Sunday afternoon, 90% of people riding are doing it on the footpaths. Even though it's legal for a person to slowly ride a bike in front of a car driver. People want to feel safe and they don't want conflict.

By painting cycle symbols on the street, the City of Vincent are encouraging people to cycle in front of motor vehicles and hoping to convince drivers to slow down from 40 km/h to 15 km/h. 

They're dreaming. Footpath cycling is legal in Western Australia. We have a low percentage of people cycling and where footpaths are not crowded it makes sense to ride on the footpath. That's what people are doing.

People are cycling to the Mount Hawthorn town centre, but it's not because there are yellow symbols on the road or heart-shaped bike racks, it because the street has destinations they want to reach.

Footpath riding is a great way to increase cycling participation in developing cycling cities. If the cycling mode share is 1% it will help to add a few percent. It's been great for Perth and should be legal throughout Australia.

Footpath riding is also a barrier to increased participation beyond low percentages. It's often slow and awkward to dodge around cafe tables and street furniture. Crossing side streets can be difficult. Once a town centre becomes a popular destination and pedestrian traffic increases, people cycling have to dismount to avoid conflict. If the City of Vincent (and Australia) is genuinely wanting an increase in cycling we can't rely on footpath riding.

Very soon, we will need protected cycle lanes to grow the number of people cycling. Conversely, unless we have a lot of people cycling, businesses and the general community will not understand why we need to move car parking to build the protected cycle lanes. Changing how cycling is perceived will be a challenge, but it is possible.

OXFORD STREET PLANNING

Protected cycle lanes are not going to happen on Oxford Street now, but hopefully it can be done in the future. Eventually other factors might help, car parking might not be such an issue and cycling can increase. We should be planning for it. Maybe it will take ten years, maybe longer. 

What's more difficult than moving car parking to build a cycle lane? Moving car parking and also cutting down trees to build a cycle lane!

One thing we can be sure about. If trees get planted this week on the sides of Oxford Street between the car parking bays, we can say goodbye to the protected cycle lanes for another fifty years. 

Oxford Street, March 2019

London's "Mini Holland"

Guest writer - Dan Kelly

Is your suburb plagued by rat running and traffic chaos? 

Get some planter boxes.

Cleveland Park Avenue Walthamstow. Photo: Tim Burns 2017

Fed up with rat running motorists and school drop off chaos, my suburban London neighbourhood used low-tech interventions such as planter boxes and outdoor seating to create safer streets, improve liveability and boost active transport. Here’s how Perth can do it too.

West Avenue, Walthamstow. Photo: Tim Burns 2017

Starting in 2015, an innovative project was rolled out across the whole local government area of Waltham Forest, an outer suburban area of north east London where I live.

Just as in Perth, residents were increasingly frustrated with issues of rat running, parking woes, school gate chaos and speeding. 

Somers Road, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2008

Somers Road, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2017

People said they wanted calmer streets, more greenery, streets less dominated by fast moving traffic and where children could play and people could interact more. They said they wanted the option of walking and riding bikes for short trips around the neighbourhood but were put off by unsafe street design and high volume traffic.

Dubbed ‘Mini Holland’ and spearheaded by go-getting then London mayor Boris Johnson, the Waltham Forest project took inspiration from the people-friendly, calm streets approach of the Netherlands.

The project involved improved pedestrian crossings, reduced speed limits on residential streets, the planting of more street trees, new public spaces and protected bike lanes on main roads that fully separate two-wheeled traffic from cars.

An important feature of the project was the partial closure of some streets to rat-running motorists. This low-tech re-design known as ‘filtering’ used heavy planter boxes or bollards to block the street to through traffic, reducing traffic volumes and making it safer for those on foot or bicycle. All homes remain accessible to motor vehicles but non-essential ‘through traffic’ is radically reduced.

Northcote Road, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2016

Northcote Road, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2017

Northcote Road, Walthamstow. Photo: Tim Burns 2017

The project was relatively inexpensive, at around £27 million (AU$46 million) over six years, approximately the cost of adding nine kilometres of lane to the Kwinana Freeway.

Most residents supported the project before its introduction however, a noisy minority of businesses and residents protested the changes, determined to stick to the status quo.

Three years on and the nay-sayers’ fears have proved unfounded. Waltham Forest’s Mini Holland project has delivered dramatic results that have made the area much more pleasant, safer and liveable.

East Avenue, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2012

East Avenue, Walthamstow. Photo: Tim Burns 2017

Research by Westminster University found the Mini Holland project has led to increased rates of walking and cycling with many of the bike trips done by new riders.

Rat running and traffic volumes around school drop off zones have reduced. New public seating, pocket parks and pedestrian-priority crossings have improved the walking experience and increased the sense of community. Children are once again playing in the street, there’s been a rise in parents biking with their kids to school, and footfall is up around local businesses.

Church Road, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2016

Church Road, Walthamstow. Photo: Dan Kelly 2018

A separate study found children in the area may have a longer life expectancy due to improved air quality and greater opportunity for active mobility.

But the best thing about the success of the Waltham Forest project is that it can be replicated in other communities – including in Perth. It doesn’t cause chaos, as detractors feared. Instead it has improved quality of life for residents and made town centres and suburban streets work much better.

West Avenue, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2012

West Avenue, Walthamstow. Photo: Tim Burns 2017

All across Perth, local governments are facing issues around traffic, road safety and car parking. Local governments and residents say they want kids to be able to walk to school, they want the streets to be safe for bike riding, and they want vibrant town centres and prosperous local businesses.

My suburban neighbourhood provides there's a workable template for local governments in Perth and beyond to achieve these goals. It’s not technically complicated, it’s not expensive and the results are delightful.

Hatherley Road, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2015

Hatherley Road, Walthamstow. Google Streetview 2018

Hatherley Road, Walthamstow. Photo: Tim Burns 2017

Hatherley Road, Walthamstow. Photo: Tim Burns 2017

Dan Kelly is a London-based liveable streets advocate who specialises in community engagement and campaign strategy. He recently visited Perth.

Design Perth streets for bikes and increase our kids' independence

It's time for Perth to embrace the three-mode transport approach that makes for a more socially connected, happier and healthier city.

While cities around the world are lowering speed limits and tearing down freeways, Perth continues to build a road network that facilitates the movement of only two modes - car and foot.

Most parents would love for their children to ride home from school on a safe path.

People on bikes are currently expected to share with motor traffic or share with pedestrians, and the conflict problems are obvious.

Designing for a third mode, the bicycle, not only improves mobility options, it can deliver a number of positive social benefits too. This is seen most notably in the Netherlands, which since the 1970s has adopted the gold standard of this three-mode approach.

It's about changing our thinking from two modes to three.

The Dutch have done it and their streets function in a way that is fairer for all people. 

Better for children, seniors and those with disabilities

Thanks to the network of separate bike paths and low-speed neighbourhood streets, Dutch children are able to have independent mobility by the time they are eight or nine.

Meanwhile in Australia, the majority of our children have restricted mobility and must wait to be taken places by car. Being a parent in Australia also means being a taxi driver.

The three-mode system also allows Dutch seniors to have independent mobility without the stress of driving. They can do their own errands and are able to have a more active social life than older Australians.

People with disabilities also benefit from bike-friendly street design. Smooth, continuous paths designed for bicycles are also ideal for wheel chairs and other motorised mobility aids.

Enlightened cities around the world are cottoning on and are progressively installing separated bike infrastructure. New York, London, Chicago and even Auckland increasing understand the importance of providing an option of bicycle riding for all people.

Failed system

Our Western Australian state and local governments want more people on bicycles but the current strategies are not working.

A new approach is needed that targets the 56 per cent of the population who have bikes in the shed but will not use their bikes for transport unless there is a dramatic change to the urban environment.

The majority of people will simple not ride a bike next to motor vehicles travelling at 50 or 60 km/h.

Lemnos Street near Shenton College.

For example, the on-road bicycle lane next to Shenton College does not get used. The students riding bikes prefer the safer option of being on the footpath (legal but not ideal).

Change in thinking

The issue is not about Australia having enough space or money. It's about changing our thinking from two modes to three.

The Dutch have done it and their streets function in a way that is fairer for all people.

Once we stop thinking about the bicycle as just a piece of sporting equipment and remember our history of using it for transport, we can stop having the pointless debates about a minority group called 'cyclists' and get on with providing transport options for the majority of people.

In Western Australia, only 1.3 per cent of people ride a bike to work or school, yet there is at least one working bike in 61 per cent of households.

Obviously most people, even when they own a bike, do not want to travel to work, school or the shops wearing Lycra and a helmet, in single-file next to fast moving motor vehicles. That's the main option available right now.

Most parents would love for their children to be able to ride home from school, relaxed, chatting with a friend, on a safe path that's separated from motor vehicles. The kids want it too.

Perth, it's time to stop taking baby steps with infrastructure and treat the bicycle as an efficient transport option for all people.

Tim Burns writes the Bicycle Perth blog.

This article was recently published by WA Today using alternative photographs (see below). I have re-published it here using my original photographs which are more relevant to the content. My images were supplied to WA Today but they decided not to use them.

The article is based my earlier "Australia, start counting to-three" blog post.

Perth Stadium: Bike-car from South Perth

There's another big game at the stadium this afternoon. A crowd of 54,000 is expected to attend the football match between Fremantle and Collingwood. Access by car is restricted so trains and buses will be the predominant mode of transport. Cycling is a good option if you live close enough, but for many people living further away or in areas without good connections to public transport the combination of bike-plus-car is a realistic option. My last post described a cycling route from Rivervale to the stadium. That one is a good option in daylight hours but the river path is not lit and would be a bit creepy in the dark.

This route from Hurlingham Road, South Perth is a good option at any time of the day or night. Easy car parking and a four kilometre ride along separated paths. This route is suitable for all ages and abilities.

Use the car park at the river end of Hurlingham Road. There are toilets here and there's a new coffee van that is open from dawn to sunset, every day of the week.

If the car park is full. Go back one block and park on the northern side of Ranelagh Crescent.

There is a shared path from Ranelagh Crescent that joins with the riverside paths.

Turn right at the river and travel along the cycle path. The stadium is an easy four kilometres without hills.

These are great quality paths. It's one of the few places in Western Australia where cycling is separated from pedestrians.

The Embargo Bar is currently in McCallum Park for the next couple of months. You can stop here before or after the game.

The path travels through this tunnel under the Causeway.

The most direct path is current blocked off but there is an alternative path on the western side of the lake.

There are multiple parking racks around the stadium.

If you return after dark the route is lit for about 90% of the journey.

Stadium management are using mobile lighting towers along the western side of the lake. At the time of taking these photographs not all the towers were illuminated so it appears darker than what could be expected during an event.

This dark section close to the Causeway is about 100 metres long.

Once past the Causeway you will be back to the Embargo Bar area.

And the final section is well lit all the way to the car park.