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Elevated City Cycleway: a proposal for Perth City

Elevated City Cycleway: a proposal for Perth City. Perth is a city in metamorphosis. The three major developments currently underway (Foreshore, City link, and Riverside) will ensure increasing residential and working population density for years to come.

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Elevated City Cycleway: a proposal for Perth City

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  1. Elevated City Cycleway: a proposal for Perth City • Perth is a city in metamorphosis. • The three major developments currently underway (Foreshore, City link, and Riverside) will ensure increasing residential and working population density for years to come. • With increased population density comes increased pressure on our transport infrastructure. • While considerable effort has been spent improving rail, road and pedestrian traffic infrastructure, relatively little effort has gone towards encouraging bicycle use in the inner city. • The nature of bicycle travel gives rise to a number of problems which dissuade most people from riding in the city.

  2. The problems • Bicycles are small and offer relatively little protection. • The stop-start nature of city traffic is tiring. In order to maintain momentum, cyclists are inevitably tempted to ignore traffic signals (e.g. during pedestrian crossing cycles), raising safety issues. • Riding on roads between moving and parked cars is unsafe, even with marked lanes. • Bicycles move at an intermediate speed between cars and pedestrians, but with slower acceleration. Cyclists are forced to choose between: • Impeding car movement. • Dodging and weaving between pedestrians.

  3. A solution • Grade separation is desirable. A dedicated cycleway in the inner city which is separate from both road and pedestrian traffic means either elevated structures or tunnels. • Tunnels are expensive to build, interfere with future development, and remove much of the desirability of riding a bicycle. • The current bicycle network is excellent for cyclists as far as the outskirts of the CBD, but once inside, the previously mentioned problems are encountered. • A initiative to build an elevated cycleway connecting distributor routes would make for a landmark improvement to the inner city of Perth.

  4. A historical perspective • Horace Dobbins petitioned for and built the California cycleway during the bicycle craze of the early 1900s. • Although this was later dismantled to build a freeway, this concept has surfaced repeatedly over intervening years as population densities have increased (See references). • Most objections have understandably focused on the visual obstruction elevated structures can cause.

  5. Elevated cycleways can be landmarks…but design is critical. • Elegant structures can be functional and attractive. Carter Cycle bridge, Cambridge station Kurilpa Cycle/Pedestrian Bridge, Brisbane Railroad gardens, New York Baltic Millennium Bridge, Newcastle New cycleway bridge, Bayerstraße,Munich

  6. A current day example in the Netherlands • Almere (population 193,000) • A planned city on reclaimed land, Almere has an entirely segregated cycleway (the “Spoorbaanpad”). • This 12km dedicated path runs alongside the length of the elevated railway and is used by 21,000 cyclists/day. • The Spoorbaanpad has right of way where it intersects with regular traffic. The Spoorbaanpad is seen here in front of the railway

  7. Design Indicative concept only • The cycleway should have: • Frequent entry/exit ramps. • Places to park bikes – ie enough room to lock bikes to the sides in addition to cycle traffic. • Minimal supporting structure/overshadowing of roads below. • And connect to major suburban bike routes. Exit • Estimated height would vary between the second and third stories as necessary. • It should be vibrant to look at! Entry

  8. Suggested alignment Suggested main path alignment runs 2.7 km from the Hay St bridge over the Mitchell Freeway to Queens Gardens. A second axis could run along Barrack St for 1 km from the WA Museum to the Perth Waterfront development. Further spurs could connect to the Mount St pedestrian bridge, and along Bennet St to Wellington Square Cycleway

  9. Conclusion • An elevated, cycleway would be a welcome addition to the current network of paths in the city, increasing the safety and amenity of all city residents. • Not only would it take current cyclists off inner city streets, it would reduce the “subjective risk factor” of riding in the city (see http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2008/09/three-types-of-safety.html)Many more people would ride to work, thereby reducing congestion. • With good design, such an amenity would become a world-class tourist attraction.

  10. References • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Cycleway • http://hembrow.blogspot.com/search/label/directness • http://www.californiacycleways.org/project.htm • http://elevatedcyclelanes.blogspot.com/ • http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/11/entries/3217/gallery/19114 • http://www.cyclestreets.net • http://www.elevatedgardencity.com/

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