Pedestrians will take the shortest route. That is the idea behind the design of walkable cities. Cyclists are the same. Roads may circle around, but direct paths must crisscross the city to make it easy for active travel. Whitlam fails the test.
Whitlam´s main street, Sculthorpe Avenue, is not a permeable design. This is a residential area with houses on local streets either side of Sculthorpe Avenue. Concrete paths run along the side streets. Crossing Sculthorpe Avenue is made difficult with a garden bed in the middle. It maybe expected that the residents go hundreds of metres out of their way to cross at the roundabout or lights, but this is unlikely not happen. Pedestrians will cross here because it is shorter.
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