Is anyone surprised the President of the NRMA Alan Evans reckons cycle lanes on our major motorways are a waste of money? Duh… this guy runs an organisation that represents car owners. What else would you expect him to say? Our roads should be replaced with lush fields of possies and daffodils?
But just because it’s predictable, doesn’t mean it’s not stupid.
In a submission to the RTA, Evans accuses the body of wasting millions on cyclists at the expense of motorists.
Zeroing in on the Lane Cove Tunnel debacle he whines: "Cyclists appear to be the only winners on Epping Road, at the expense of thousands of motorists." Actually, Alan, the other winners appear to be the Lane Cove Tunnel’s owner Connector Motorways which is being paid $25 million by Morris Iemma for simply delaying their contractual right to reduce Epping Road from three lanes to one. The space left on the road will be dedicated to a bus lane and a cycle lane.
Why isn’t Evans annoyed at that? $25 million for delaying the outrageous. Is it because cyclists are a softer target than the Labor government?
Surely Alan understands this – unless his spin doctors are still on holidays and there’s no-one at NRMA HQ to explain it to him.
Not that I’m a cheerleader for the grim contract negotiated by the Lane Cove Tunnel operators which allows them to effectively take lanes off Epping Road to force people into their tunnel. The whole thing smacks of a bad comedy – build a second road to ease traffic congestion and then close the first one so it’s just as bad. It should serve as a reminder that when governments get private enterprise to build public infrastructure instead of borrowing the money and building it themselves it’s us that end up paying with these ridiculous road closures. If only the Liberals offered another way – but they’re keener on private enterprise than Labor.
But, Alan, why take on the poor old cyclists? We should be encouraging them - not punishing them. Cyclists deserve a dedicated lane. I wonder if you’ve ever actually ridden down a motorway with semi trailers doing 100 kph hurtling past 30 centimetres from your ear?
And I say all this as a cyclist, car owner and member of the NRMA. I say it as someone who rides to work every day and knows from experience it’s faster, cheaper and more pleasant than driving.
Admittedly I live in Darlington, a micro-suburb wedged between Chippendale and Redfern. And work in Pyrmont.
But even in my leisure time I find I often have multiple options when travelling in the city – bus, train and car. More often than not I choose my bike because it’s quick and I know I won’t have to find a park.
The point is we need to build proper infrastructure so cyclists can ride to work. And it’s more than just cycleways. We need a more holistic approach. To have places where city workers can store bikes and get showered and changed for example. Maybe a pilot scheme could be run by the City Council? We could force new city office buildings to integrate such facilities before being approved. Or we could choose not to charge cyclists a double fare when they take their bikes on the train in peak hour.
But what we shouldn’t do is listen to future-eaters like Alan Evans who doesn’t even seem able to understand the basics. His enemy isn’t cyclists - it’s stupid government policy.
