Anne Moran says the end of Frome St bikeway a black spot with many near misses

OUTSPOKEN Adelaide City councillor Anne Moran has labelled the end of the Frome St bikeway a dangerous black spot for both motorists and cyclists.

• New report into Frome St bikeway ordered by Council

OUTSPOKEN Adelaide City councillor Anne Moran has labelled the end of the Frome St bikeway a dangerous black spot for both motorists and cyclists.

Mrs Moran said the intersection of Frome and Pirie St where the bikeway ends was unsafe.

“That is the blackest of black spots,” she said.

“I see a near miss there almost every day.”

The $1.6 million Frome St bikeway has divided the city since it opened last May.

Motorists have criticised the bikeway because it reduced Frome St to one lane each way between Pirie and Carrington streets but cyclists have claimed that it has improved safety.

The council will conduct another investigation into the future of the Frome St bikeway, despite ratepayers already forking out $89,000 for an independent report into the project which recommended it stay largely as is.

The Frome Street bikeway has become embroiled in controversy again.

Mrs Moran’s comments on Frome St came as the council was debating whether to push ahead with a pedestrian crossing on the eastern side of Whitmore Square or wait to apply for federal black spot funding in the next available round in November.

The council on Tuesday voted to go ahead with the project by finding savings in the budget from other infrastructure projects.

Mrs Moran supported going ahead with the project and said there were many other black spots in the city, such as the area near the end of the Frome St bikeway, which could receive funding under the program.

The cost of installing the crossing has been estimated between $330,000 and $480,000.

Councillor Alex Antic, who proposed the council do the project without waiting for federal funds, said residents should not have to wait any longer for a safe crossing to be installed on the Square.

“There have been many reported and unreported near misses in the area,” he said.

“It’s just a matter of time before someone is bowled over there.”

Councillor Priscilla Corbell, who represents the south of the city, said residents in the south of the city had been asking for the crossing for many years.