ACT Projects Pipeline 2022 -23

The ACT Projects Pipeline gives you and idea what the ACT Government (Major Projects Canberra) thinks will be coming up. For cycling there is not much new here, except the 2022 ACT Household Travel Survey has officially started, 5 years after the last survey. Good news.

The forgotten Garden City Cycle Route

Braddon Streetscape Upgrade project excluded cycling. Haig Park Footpath and Lighting project lacks cycle infrastructure too. Upgrades to Northbourne Avenue last year were bicycle free. End of journey facilities Draft Variation No 357 went missing since 2019. The City And Gateway Urban Design Framework (December 2018) was filled away and forgotten. Cycling is the Cinderella of transport – we are still waiting for the Fairy Godmother. We were pleased to finally see some progress for cycling with today’s tender 30864-RFT-001 Garden City Cycle Route Project Brief Design.

Repetition without consequence: transport planning cycle

Paralysis through analysis: we have enough data, we know what we need to do, we are just not doing it. Policy work in the ACT has gone around in circles since 2004. The recommendations of the ACT Transport strategies and consults reports are all too often never implemented – it is not for lack of reports. Here is the history of cycling transport policy in the ACT.

Garden City Cycle Route

Movement and Place was applied to Northbourne Avenue in the City And Gateway Urban Design Framework (December 2018). Northbourne Avenue is awkwardly envisioned as an Urban Boulevard with Transit with both high movement and high place. Is such a thing possible?

Section 7: Movement and Place

This section explains what the Movement and Place Framework means for cycling and the challenge to implement the Movement and Place Framework in the ACT, as it will require the collaboration of both ACT Transport and ACT Planning. This is something recommended in the ACT Active Travel Key Documents, but yet not done.

40 km/h zone rollout confusion

Belconnen Town Centre has been trialling 40 km/h zones for over two years. The rollout to other town centre is causing confusion as commuters notice the changes.

The luxury of a footpath

For a long time, suburbs were built for cars – footpaths were seen as optional. Canberra’s older suburbs often lack paths. The newer suburbs are better and the paths make them pedestrian friendly.

ACT Labor 2020 follow up

There was little cycling in the lengthy 2020 ACT Labor Policy Position Statement (no longer online) and most concerning was lack of specifics. ACT Labor did poorly on active travel in the 2016-2020 legislative term, however, seem to be doing better since. Minister Steel speech reaffirmed the pledges before the ACT Legislative Assembly (7 May 2022). This article compares ACT Labor’s progress on active travel between 2016-2020 and 2020-2022.