A blunder of urban planning resulted in a bike path disappearing from the map without the ACT Government noticing. The off-road bike path bypassing Mitchell on the Flemington Road was bulldozed to widen Flemington Road for the light rail. The ACT Government forgot to replace it and, after complaints, pledged to rebuild it. By July 2020 it was done.
Contents
- Background
- Flemington Road bike path: finally finished
Background
Project status: completed
The Flemington Road was a popular route to the city from Gungahlin because it was flat and fast. After the removal of the bike path, only cycle lanes remained – which are never popular. The path between EPIC and Well Station Road along the Flemington Road was slowly rebuilt. The photos below show the construction at the stage that it had progressed to Lysaght Street intersection but there is still about a kilometre to go to Well Station Road, where it will join other bike paths.
The asphalt layer for bike paths is 50 mm. You may find that to be rather thin and you are right. It is only suitable to carry bikes. Driving a truck on it will destroy it. Read MIS05.
“This path will be the first section constructed of the Flemington Road principal cycle route, identified in the Moving Canberra 2019-2045 Integrated Transport Strategy as key to connecting the City to Gungahlin via Dickson.”
Flemington Road shared path, ACT Government, accessed 24/4/2020
The funding was promised by ACT Labor at the time of the 2019 Federal Election.
“The joint funding will also go towards the construction of the shared path along Flemington Road between Randwick Road and Morisset Road, Mitchell to fix the gap in the walking and cycling network between the EPIC light rail stop and Mitchell.”
Government pledge $5.8 million to continue bike and footpath upgrades, The Riot ACT, 12 May 2019
Flemington Road bike path: finally finished
The off-road bike path bypassing Mitchell on the Flemington Road has now been completed. The new path closes a missing link and opens interesting possibilities in the north.
Much awaited and now finished. It is worth celebrating. After its destruction through road widening for the construction of the light rail, it has been finally rebuilt, but not as part of the light rail project.
On Wednesday 8 July 2020 the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, Minister for Roads and Active Travel, Chris Steel, and Health Minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith, held a media conference regarding active travel this week but failed to mention Flemington Road. The ACT Government dedicated page has been updated but also does not mention that the path has been completed.
The Flemington Road path between EPIC and Well Station Drive is part of a Main Community Route, the CBR Cycle Route C11 City – Gungahlin via Dickson. The new section does not have directional signage, which is unfortunate.
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