Blue Mountains Cycling Safety Forum

18 October 2017

The Hon Melinda Pavey MP

Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight

52 Martin Place

SYDNEY NSW 2000

Dear Minister

The BMCSF is an association formed to advocate for improved infrastructure and

safer cycling in the Blue Mountains and its immediate surrounds. It is supported

by Bicycle NSW, Penrith Cycling Club, Western Sydney Mountain Bike Club,

Springwood Cycling Club and individual subscribers.

We are seeking a meeting to discuss how the State Government may provide a

incidence and severity of crashes. International best practice for applying a safety systems

safety of these groups both through physical changes to the environment and behaviour change measures.

prioritising evidence based engineering measures to ameliorate those risks.

from high-speed traffic, but who are less concerned about speed.

is generally more suitable for people wanting to move fast (e.g. commuting or training).

A safer route between Faulconbridge and the mid-mountains is likely to encourage cyclists of

varying abilities in greater overall numbers well as increase the frequency of trips and the

participation of women in the activity.

Three possible ways (there may be others) to achieve a safer road design for the GWH at

Faulconbridge include:

1. Widening of the Road Shoulders

Building/ extending the shoulders to a safe standard would reduce the hazard for current

cyclists. It utilises existing infrastructure and benefits motorists by providing a break down

lane in the event of an emergency.

This proposed widening would bring this section up to the same standard as the rest of

the GWH between Penrith and Katoomba.

2. Separate Bike Path Behind the Armco Fencing

This is a variation of proposal 1. Under this option the shoulder is still widened except that

where Armco rails are situated, the newly constructed bike shoulder would go behind the

rails. This would benefit cyclists by providing full separation from the traffic for these short sections.

3. Two-Way Shared Cycle Path

The longer- term objective should be to provide a separate bike path between

Faulconbridge and Woodford – i.e. to fill the missing link in the local road network.

To be fit for purpose a separate two-way bike path should provide for a bridge and/ or

underpass to facilitate crossings to the other side of the highway. This will ensure that the

facility gets maximum use. Requiring cyclists to dismount and dash across the highway

(albeit to an island in the centre of the dual carriage way) to continue riding on a pathway

on the opposite side of the road must be avoided, as this will deter usage. Traffic lights are

a better option for a crossing but this is still a suboptimal design because it stops cycling

and motoring traffic flow.

18 Bristol City Council, A Safe Systems Approach to Road Safety in Bristol: 2015-2024

19 Austroads, 2012, opcit, at p6.

Attachment to the Submission to the Minister for Roads and the Minister for Western Sydney

Unless the separate cycle path is free from stoppages, commuting and fast cyclists will

tend to opt for the highway so a widened shoulder is the short term safety imperative and

is guaranteed to be used.

Further Support for the Proposal to build road shoulders on the GWH

Transport for NSW has set out 10 principles to guide the delivery of cycling projects in the

Design Standards, testimonies of crash victims, safety research and community feedback

all constitute the strong and compelling evidence underpinning the proposals to widen the

road shoulders (and the longer term) build a separate cycle path.

The proposal to widen the road shoulders uses existing infrastructure and represents good

value for money when weighted against the improvement to safety and the removal of

barriers to increased cycling trips.

The proposals are the result of collaboration between community groups and the BMCC.

In 2015 the BMCC set a target to increase cycling participation by doubling the number of

bicycle trips made in the Blue Mountains, as a percentage of total trips, by 2020 and

increasing the growth in cycling as a share of for all transport trips in greater Sydney and

making the road safer, cyclists perceptions of their vulnerability will change and this may

encourage more people to cycle between the lower and mid to upper mountains.

The road section the upgrade is just 6km from Springwood – a major Blue Mountains

social and commercial hub.

The proposals remove a cycling blackspot from the only route between Faulconbridge and

Woodford and is a regional corridor between Penrith and Katoomba.

The proposals allows for both commuter cycling and cycling tourism.

The proposals partners with council to remove a cycling blackspot on the GWH and

thereby improve the only road link between Faulconbridge and Woodford.

22 http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/bicycles/benefits.html