If ever there was a road that would benefit from a bike lane, it's Wantirna Road in Ringwood. It's too narrow to accommodate two general traffic lanes in both directions but its single lanes are very wide, encouraging left-hand overtaking.
I don't regularly ride in Ringwood but I do travel along Wantirna Rd fairly often in a car, and my experience is that even doing the speed limit I am usually overtaken on the left by people who are clearly more important than me (and the speed limit, for that matter). This must be a frightening prospect for cyclists who use that route.
Bike lanes aside, some form of traffic-calming would be a positive step in making Wantirna Rd safer for all road users.
Complete bollocks
But according to a report in the Maroondah Leader, local traders have banded together in an attempt to scotch plans by VicRoads to install bicycle lanes along Wantirna Rd, because it would create chaos on the already crowded thoroughfare
. The arguments presented by the traders in this article are complete bollocks:
-
It seems like a triplication because there's a bike lane along Heatherdale Rd and one along EastLink
- Dr John Tescher from Wantirna Rd Medical Centre. By this argument Wantirna Rd should be closed to all traffic because there are other general traffic lanes on Heatherdale Rd and EastLink. -
It will also make it hard for taxis that pick up our elderly patients
- Dr John Tescher from Wantirna Rd Medical Centre. I'm pretty sure Wantirna Rd Medical Centre has its own off-street parking—indeed, I'd be surprised if planning regulations didn't require it. -
customers would be reluctant to turn right to the shops if cars were behind them
- Robert Cranston from the post office. As if that doesn't happen already! In any case the road rules permit motorised vehicles to enter a bike lane in order to pass another vehicle that is indicating a right-hand turn. In other words, nothing would change in this regard. -
trucks would not able to stop to deliver goods
- Robert Cranston from the post office. Where do the trucks stop now? You can clearly see in the photo from the article that the shops have their own off-street parking area, which is presumably where deliveries are currently made.
Nonsense from start to finish. And I despair at the narrow-minded, car-centric outlook that must have motivated many of the more than 1000
people who signed a petition in opposition to the plan.
Stick-up for Gordon Ashley
As for Gordon Ashley, former Liberal state member and now independent candidate Bayswater, he's quoted in the article as suggesting that VicRoads take a dose of cold, hard morning reality
on the issue. The quote is taken straight from his blog where he makes a rather poor argument against the bike lane proposal:
Inclusion of bicycle lanes will mean that double carriageways on this 12-metre wide stretch of road would have to be cut to a single carriageway in each direction.
This is wrong on a number of counts. Firstly the Victorian Road Rules do not define the term "dual carriageway" however a "multi-lane road" is defined as a road
with 2 or more marked lanes (except bicycle lanes) that are—
(a) on the side of the dividing line or median strip where the driver is driving; and
(b) for the use of vehicles travelling in the same direction.
Except at traffic lights, Wantirna Rd is not marked as a multi-lane road. And the fact that cars often travel two-abreast does not make it so—in fact anyone who drives in the left-hand row of traffic is overtaking on the left, which under clause 141 of the road rules carries a 3 point penalty. Hmm.
Mr Ashley again:
Even with two-lane flows in each direction, long tailbacks are common during morning and evening peak times. One dose of cold, hard-morning reality would surely force VicRoads to ditch this crazy proposal. It would be an act of madness.
I think the prospective MP needs a cold, hard lesson in the fundamentals of traffic flow. Maybe someone could send him a copy of the relevant article from the recent issue of Ride On? flyingdutch briefly summarises in the BV Forums:
What Vicroads does midblock is irrelevant to traffic flow.
It's the intersections and their ability to allow traffic to get where they are going, that govern that. Given that both ends of this road flair out to 2-3 lanes to feed W'horse and Canterbury Rds the traders fears seem to be rather unfounded.
It's the number of cars getting across an intersection at each change of lights that determines the number of cars in the tailback, not how many traffic lanes there are mid-block.
Mr Ashley:
Bicycle lanes would cause massive congestion, chaos, road rage and serious dangers for any cyclist foolish enough to attempt travelling this stretch of road. I have already described Wantirna Road as ‘Hazard Road'. Bicycle lanes would add yet another hazard.
Utter nonsense and blatant scare-mongering. Keep your children safely inside your SUVs mothers!
On the contrary, Bicycle Victoria provides Balwyn Road as an example where a bike lane beside a single general traffic lane has
significantly reduced the number of motor vehicle accidents by better defining the road space for all users.
Then Mr Ashley really starts heading for la-la land:
Residents already experience lengthy delays trying to get out of their driveways in peak times, especially if they are turning right. Single-lane traffic conditions will make entry even more difficult for them.
Excuse me? Getting across a one line of congested traffic is harder than getting across two lines of congested traffic? Totally illogical.
Mr Ashley also has other priorities for Wantirna Rd:
reduction of speed limit from 70 km/h to 60 km/h;
installation of a pedestrian crossing near Waldreas Lodge;
widening of the road bridge over Dandenong Creek (with a pedestrian path built outside the bridge deck);
installation of a roundabout at the Selkirk/Clarence roads intersection.
Internal confusion? VicRoads has advised me all these issues are being monitored and evaluated for possible action. The arrival of the "Bicycle Lanes" letter, however, suggests that the right hand may not know what the left hand is doing.
These are all very important and much required (likewise the pedestrian crossing at Reilly St that Mr Ashley mentions later), but none of this is mutually exclusive to the installation of bike lanes! And I'm sure the boffins over at VicRoads are perfectly capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. To try to muddy the waters with largely unrelated issues is just a politician's trick for distracting attention from his patently weak arguments.
(Incidentally, people who are so concerned about congestion, chaos, and road rage are not normally in favour of reducing speed limits and installing more bloody traffic lights. Aren't these the sort of things supposed to increase such hazards
? He really doesn't make a very consistent case, does he?)
Then we get to my favourite bit in Mr Ashley's entry:
People interested in cycling already have miles of cycle paths available to them along Dandenong Creek where there are no exhaust pollutions to worry about.
It's nice that he cares. But let's apply this line of reasoning equally: People interested in driving already have miles of roadway available to them along Canterbury Road where there are multiple traffic lanes. Mr Ashley's argument totally ignores the fact that many cyclists may not be interested in going for a tootle along Dandenong Creek—rather they may want to use their bicycle for transportation, to get somewhere specific for which Wantirna Rd is the most direct and sensible route.
I could go on, but I really can't be bothered…
Action
You might want to follow the thread in the BV Forums for some good background on this issue, and Bicycle Victoria has a campaign page. If you favour bike lanes in this location email Carolyn.Lindsey@roads.vic.gov.au (and CC to campaigns@bv.com.au as well) to express support for the plan.
Given that Wantirna Rd is nominated as part of the Principal Bicycle Network and that it is a suitable location for bike lanes, I reckon the plan should proceed.
Comments
Completely agree with your sentiments, comparisons with Heatherdale Road are poor given that Wantirna Road serves a residential area as well as providing access to shops, schools and community facilities.
Given that bicycle lanes will in fact make the road safer by ensuring that traffic flows in an orderly fashion this will make it easier for drivers to turn into and out of Wantirna Road. Likewise this will make it easier for bus services since buses will no longer need to try and merge into and out of traffic that is disobeying road safety rules.
In addition given that there is a policy direction of making Ringwood, as a transit city, into a pedestrian, cyclist and public transport friendly environment, it makes sense to provide bicycle lanes along the roads that feed into the Ringwood town centre.
It is worth noting that both Maroondah's Integrated Transport Strategy and the Ringwood Mobility and Wayfinding Strategy identify the need for bicycle lanes along Wantirna Road.
Alex Makin www.alexmakin.com.au