THE Greens have vowed to push for a fairer share of spending on cycling by Maribyrnong Council if they’re successful at the October 27 election.
Yarraville ward candidate Simon Crawford was at Footscray’s notorious Shepherd Bridge on Friday to launch ‘the Greens bike plan for Maribyrnong’.
Mr Crawford said Maribyrnong’s rivers and parks, and proximity to Docklands and the city made the area a potential “cycling utopia”.
But he warns of significant challenges such as roads choked with trucks and a lack of basic bike infrastructure.
“Underinvestment means Maribyrnong has a long way to go before it is safe for cyclists,” he said.
“Maribyrnong Council is trailing other localities in bicycle infrastructure investment with only $2.85 per person invested in 2011, whereas surrounding councils invested on average $10.16 per person.”
The Greens plan includes Maribyrnong lifting its annual spending on bicycle infrastructure to $7 per person, about $500,000 a year. It pushes for upgrading Shepherd Bridge with a separated bike path, improving Hopkins Street and installing traffic lights at the Parker and Whitehall streets intersection in Footscray.
Getting trucks off residential streets by building the truck bypass is also on the wishlist.
Mr Crawford said he and Greens Western Metropolitan Region MP Colleen Hartland had made Shepherd Bridge the top priority for improvement works.
“Shepherd Bridge is the main bike connection between the west and the CBD yet is not wide enough, is poor quality and unsafe,” he said.
Bicycle Victoria has recently declared improvements to Shepherd Bridge its top priority.
VicRoads acting regional director Damien Afxentis said the organisation was investigating improvements to safety for cyclists at Shepherd Bridge and other intersections along Footscray Road. “In the context of these investigations, proposals to address safety for cyclists at this location will be considered for future funding.”
