Mitcham Bicycle User Group puts cycling safety wheels in motion

IMPROVING road safety in the area will encourage more Mitcham residents to get on their bikes and get riding, a new bicycle user group says.

Isaac, 3, Tim, Elijah, 6, and Sheena Kerby in Colonel Light Gardens. They are part of the newly-formed Mitcham BUG (Bicycle User Group), set up to make cycling easier for residents. Picture: AAP/ Keryn Stevens

• Bike path request thrown out
• Call to ban bikes from dangerous Old Belair Rd
• Cyclists want bike ‘express lane’ to get them into CBD

ROAD safety needs to be improved to increase the rate of cycling in the Mitcham hills, according to a new lobby group.

The Mitcham Bicycle User Group has formed with the aim of making cycling easier for residents of the Mitcham district – particularly those in the hills.

Member Tim Kerby, of Colonel Light Gardens, said poor safety was the major factor that held Mitcham residents back from taking up cycling.

His wife, Sheena, and children, Elijah, 6, and Isaac, 3, were all cyclists – but he had reservations about riding between the plains and the hills.

“I used to live up in Blackwood and I would ride up Old Belair Rd, but it was pretty dangerous in terms of being a windy road with no bike lanes and cars going past pretty fast,” Mr Kerby said.

“The one that is there, the Lynton bike path, is so steep you need to be an athlete.”

He said “nine out of 10” people would have to push their bike up the dedicated commuter cycling path.

He believed Mitcham Council had done a “pretty good job” helping cyclists in recent years, but there was room for improvement.

“It’s a bit of an education thing,” he said.

“You have to break down barriers for people. I used to ride down to the plains and get the train back up to the hills. It’s not about saying you have to ride the whole distance, but there are other alternatives.”

Founding member Keith Baldry said his group was in the process of forming contacts with the Bicycle Institute of SA and other bicycle user groups, as well as Mitcham Council, to form an organised approach to cycling advocacy.

He wanted to provide encouragement to the State Government and Mitcham Council to improve cycling options across Mitcham.

“We want to engage better with the wider community, in particular people who’d love to cycle more in Mitcham,” Mr Baldry, of Belair, said.

Mitcham Council last month approved a plan to turn the Kingswood stretch of Rugby St into a bicycle boulevard, continuing on from a path already established in Unley.

It would ultimately form part of a non-stop cycling route from Belair to the city, identified by the State Government as a high-priority project.

Originally published as Mitcham Bicycle User Group puts cycling safety wheels in motion