Adelaide City Council asked to approve $5.8m East-West Bikeway route through Adelaide CBD
The preferred route for a new $5.8m CBD bikeway route has been revealed – and it means 170 fewer street car parks
The proposed route of a $5.8m Adelaide CBD bikeway has been designed as a dog-leg to avoid potential legal action by business owners.
Staff have suggested the much debated East-West Bikeway should go from West Tce along Franklin Street into Flinders Street, then into Gawler Place and on to Wakefield Street.
The preferred design – presented to elected members on Tuesday night – avoids cyclists going past several businesses on Flinders Street, including law firms, which threatened to sue the council if they lost parking spaces outside their properties.
Instead cyclists will have to make right turns from Flinders and Wakefield streets into Gawler Place, which will be converted from an one-way street for vehicles into shared two-way use by bicycles.
Staff have ruled out three other possible routes to connect West Tce with South Tce by putting bike lanes and cyclist crossings on Grote Street to Wakefield Street, Franklin Street to Flinders Street or Waymouth Street to Pirie Street.
All angle parking along the route will be replaced with parallel parking, resulting in the loss of 170 spaces near small businesses, three hotels, two schools and two churches.
One of the worst hit areas will be near the intersection of Franklin St and West Tce, where the Greek Orthodox Church and St Mary’s College will lose between 60-80 car parking spaces.
A staff report said the council already had been granted two time extensions and would have to seek another to enable consultation to occur and design work to be completed.
“The Department for Infrastructure and Transport advised that a further extension of time may be possible under certain circumstances,” it said.
“These circumstances may include a requirement that construction works have substantially commenced. Discussions are ongoing.”
The staff report suggested the project could be expedited if the council limited consultation to telling property owners about the bikeway’s impact on street parking, then complete final designs and start construction before June.
“(Council would then) undertake a broad engagement process once the bikeway is in place to proactively gain feedback from all street users and stakeholders,” it said.
“(There would) be ongoing feedback loop to make adjustments to the bikeway as needed.”
Cr Anne Moran said the council had chosen the route because it had succumbed to pressure from businesses on Flinders St, including law firms.
“I know why we are doing this and it has nothing to do with what staff are saying,” she said.
“It is because of intense political lobbying.
“This dog leg is a dog leg and it is a dog of an idea.”
Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor agreed the proposed route had been chosen to avoid Flinders Street “because the lobbying was so intense”.
Ms Verschoor expressed concern about the lack of consultation, saying it appeared only stakeholders losing car parking would be involved.
“I’ve already had calls from people who aren’t talking about the route, it is more the fact nobody has spoken to them,” she said.
Asked by Cr Alexander Hyde if it was a case of “choose first and ask people what they think later”, chief executive Mark Goldstone told the meeting broader consultation would delay a start to the project – and threaten the grant money.
“There hasn’t been a wholesale engagement process undertaken because this is the only way to achieve the delivery of the project within the timeframe,” he said.
“The last time we asked for an extension there was commentary around that we really needed to get on and deliver the project.
“We have identified the route, we have determined it is the most appropriate and we will be moving forward with that route.
“We will consult as we progress with the design.”
Elected members have been asked to approve the route at the council’s next monthly meeting on December 15.
