Adelaide's Deadly Bicycle Lanes – A reality Check for the SA Government

With a large part of Adelaide built upon a flat plain, and a moderate climate, the city has the potential to be a a cycling haven, benefiting the health and it's citizens and the environment. Instead, through a lack funding and incompetence, the South Australian Government has managed to create a series of deadly traps for cyclists by building isolated segments of cycling infrastructure and then terminating them in extremely hazardous situations. The diagram below shows some of the isolated segments of cycling infrastructure for the main arterial routes across the city along with some images of a few of these death traps.

As you can see cyclists wanting to get from one part of the city to another often cannot avoid these dangerous sections of road.

1. South Australia spends less per head on cycling infrastructure than any state in the country. The lack of funding means the dollars are being spread too thin to do the job properly.

2. The South Australian Government has failed to show any leadership in relation to cycling infrastructure. While the government has a plan, so far implimentation has been ad-hoc with much of the limited funding wasted on isolated segments of bicycle lane that are effectively useless unless they are joined together. In the past, the South Australian Government has failed to show any leadership in relation to cycling infrastructure. Responsibility for cycling infrastructure seemed to be buried in portfolio of Minister for Road Safety, who only seemed to have made token responses as a result of pressure from cycling lobby groups. The Government needs to have a minister who is prepared to not only take responsibility for cycling infrastructure but to take ownership of the issues and to be a driving force for improvements in cycling infrastructure in this state. Mike Rann is happy to bask in the glory of the tour down under, but when it comes to providing basic infrastructure for ordinary South Australians, there has been no visibility whatsoever in the Government. The Transport Minister, Patrick Conlon has however recently advised that he is absorbing cycling back into the transport portfio. This is a logical first step and unlike the previous road safety minister, he does actually ride a bike. Will Mr Conlon be visionary or reactionary in relation to cycling issues and will the Rann Government follow through with the implimentation if he does? Time will tell, but to help build momentum, I would encourage you to write to Mr Conlon at minister.conlon@saugov.sa.gov.au and make him aware of the deficiencies in the cycling infrastucture which affect you.

Look for the signs of an incompetent Government - coming to a road near you -