Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor Martin Haese yet to find solution for Frome St bikeway

FIXING the controversial Frome St bikeway was an election pledge made by Lord Mayor Martin Haese, but 18 months on, Adelaide City Council has failed to implement a solution.

14/05/14 Cyclists riding bikes in the Bike Lane on Frome Street, between Flinders Street and Wakefield Street, Adelaide this morning. Bike Lane opens on Frome Street, City. Picture Stephen Laffer

• Fixing bikeway and extending it could cost $10m
• Developers dismiss idea bike lines encourage investment
• Moran says the end of Frome St bikeway is black spot
• Drivers, cyclists divided over new Frome St bike lane

FIXING the controversial Frome St bikeway was an election pledge made by Lord Mayor Martin Haese, but 18 months on, Adelaide City Council has failed to implement a solution.

The separated bikeway ends at the Pirie St intersection, leaving cyclists to ride out into an intersection with no designated lane, which one councillor has labelled as a disaster waiting to happen.

Councillor Anne Moran wants a painted bike lane throughout Frome Rd, between Pirie St and North Tce, to improve safety.

“My main concern is that we lure people into one of the most expensive bike paths in the world that runs for 250m that spits them out into open traffic,” she said.

“There is no warning and no bike path marked further from Pirie St and I think it’s only a matter of time before something disastrous happens — what would we say if something terrible happened because we failed to act?”

The Frome St bikeway has divided commuters, because it halved the number of lanes available for motorists, but cyclists believe it improved safety.

Ms Moran’s proposal follows an October meeting of the Economic and Community Development Committee, which rubber-stamped safety improvements such as painting green cycling lanes through the intersections and reducing the height of concrete planter boxes, at an estimated cost of $90,000.

However, no work has been done, prompting the councillor to call for immediate action.

“When this council came in it promised to fix Frome Rd bike path,” Ms Moran said.

“But I’m at the stage now where I’ve had enough and I’ve been vocal to the Lord Mayor that I thought something would be done. I didn’t think nothing would be done.”

Cyclists riding along the Frome St bikeway. Picture: Stephen Laffer

Last year, the council also decided to begin negotiations with the Government to co-fund an extension to the bikeway to North Terrace, and committed to “conclude negotiations by March 2016”.

That deadline has since passed but Mr Haese said securing funding for the project was complex.

“Both Adelaide City Council and the State Government are currently in the midst of budget deliberations for the 2016/17 financial year and, due to the complexity of this process, finalising project budgets can take longer than anticipated,” he said.

“However, at the Economic and Community Development Committee to be held on the April 19, the council will deliberate the following motion to enable a temporary bike lane facility to be installed as soon as possible.”

Mr Haese said discussions over co-funding are ongoing with the State Government and an outcome is expected during the upcoming budget deliberations.

“I am not shifting from my views expressed last year that I’m determined to see the best results possible for this project which the current council inherited,” he said.

Bike SA chief executive Christian Haag said any solution to the problem is welcomed — however council should not lose sight of the full completion of the project.

“I think a short-term measure to paint a green surface is positive but it should in no way mitigate the need to complete the new bikeway,” he said.