In the early 70’s, after several accidents and cyclists losing their lives, the National Capital Authority decided to build separated bike paths.
Well, as soon as they were finished pedestrians and dog walkers discovered these paths and thought: “Wow! Pedestrian paths! This is great, and I will now use them all the time!” Needless to say, the ACT Government could hardly take these new bike paths off the pedestrians again, so it decided to make them shared paths.
Unfortunately, older Canberrans have forgotten that the paths were originally built to keep cyclists safe, and everyone else just simply does not know about it.
It is important to know that in the ACT we use different terms to other jurisdictions. All paths in the ACT are shared, unless indicated otherwise. Oh, and the term ‘footpath’ does not exist either in Canberra.
So, dear pedestrians and unleashed dogs, please don’t frown or growl at me when I ride past you… We are all sharing the benefit of being able to enjoy our beautiful town on shared paths! 🙂
canberra.bike 