BikeWest would like to acknowledge that council seeks to provide community spaces for all people. This is a key consideration in our thinking. BikeWest is very concerned that the shared path as currently designed as part of the Clark Street popup park will not be suitable to be used safely by both cyclists and pedestrians, especially children and older people. BikeWest is convinced that the inherent conflict of the design will lead to accidents with resulting legal cases. The park will be perceived as unsafe and inconvenient by cyclists who will likely take a different, possibly more dangerous route to avoid it and hence it would result in wasted expenditure by council.
BikeWest would like to suggest changes that can be added with very little cost, increase visual amenity through additional greening, massively increase safety and have minimal impact on pedestrian space. Therefore, BikeWest cannot support the current design and suggest the following:
- Planter box dividers to separate the bike path from the pop up park
- A rail at the corner with church
- designated zebra crossing at the northern end of Clarke St
Project Proposal by the Maribyrnong City Council
Project Location
Further Reading
1) BikeWest submission in full http://bikewest.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Clarke-St-pop-up-park-and-bike-lane-BikeWest-20200926.pdf