Frome St bikeway: Developers dismiss idea bike lanes encourage investment
ONE of the state’s leading developers has dismissed Adelaide City Council claims about the Frome St bikeway — and he’s not alone.
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ONE of the state’s leading developers has dismissed Adelaide City Council claims redesigning and extending the Frome St bikeway would become a catalyst for new investment in the area.
Prominent city developer and East End landowner Theo Maras said the claims did not stack up.
“I don’t have a problem with bikeways per se, but, the idea that they will encourage residential or commercial developments is simply ridiculous,” he said.
“They (bikeways) don’t even factor into the decision (to proceed with a development).”
Other developers to whom The Advertiser spoke and did not wish to be named, agreed that bikeways would not influence their investment decisions.
The $1.6 million bikeway has caused controversy since it opened last May, as it halved the number of lanes available to vehicle traffic, but cyclists claim it has improved safety in the area.
The council will debate options for redesigning and extending the bikeway at today’s Economic and Community Development Committee, with the most expensive combination predicted to cost $11.5 million, but the two cheapest options would be less than $500,000 to complete.
Mr Maras said he was disappointed the council was considering spending such large amount of money on the controversial bikeway.
“I don’t want to see that much of ratepayers’ and taxpayers’ money being spent on it,” he said.
“As someone who pays a significant amount in both council rates and state taxes I would be very frustrated if that amount of money was spent.”
Mr Maras said any redesign of Frome St should reduce congestion for vehicles.
“We should be encouraging people to come into the city not discouraging them with congestion by design,” he said.
Some of the options up for discussion include redesigning the existing bikeway to accommodate four lanes of traffic, while others would retain the current one lane each way set up.
Similar options will be discussed for the extension of the bikeway through to North Tce.
The council’s cost benefit analysis spruiks the potential benefits of spending up big on redesigning and extending the bikeway, despite acknowledging it would be hard to quantify.
“There is significant development potential and opportunity for further growth along Frome Street to the north of Angas Street, especially taking into account the recent Capital City Zone planning changes,” the report states.
“The Frome North and Frome Road Bikeway sections, if delivered as a streetscape
improvement project, would provide a great foundation to encourage new developments
and businesses, increase foot traffic and stimulate investment along the street …”
Lord Mayor Martin Haese defended the prediction the bikeway and streetscape upgrade would encourage development.
“It (the economic analysis) was done with reference to a number of case studies from different cities around the world and it found there was an increase in investment and development in areas where major streetscape improvements had been done,” he said.
“We need to do this to an acceptable standard and there will be economic benefits to the city from doing do.”
Mr Haese said he believed the project would attract either state or federal funds to reduce the financial burden on the city’s ratepayers.
“I have a degree of confidence (the project) will be supported by other levels of government,” he said.
“And I want this done within this term (of the council).”