Cyclist’s death sparks call for speed drop on River Loop

It is the most popular bike ride in Brisbane and plugged as a tourist attraction. But a tragic death has renewed calls to investigate lower road speed limits.

The tragic cycling death of a 42-year-old man in Yeronga last week has sparked renewed calls to investigate if lower speed limits could improve the safety of the popular River Loop.

The latest accident was believed to be unrelated to speed, although investigations are continuing.

Police said it appeared the man may have bumped into another rider in his group and fallen between a ute and the trailer it was towing, at the intersection of Kadumba and Feez streets, Yeronga.

The driver was uninjured. Police believe that it was a tragic, unavoidable accident.

The intersection is busy and locals say they often see close passes between cyclists and cars, or cars cutting the corner.

However BrisWest Bicycle Users Group co-convener, Chris Cox, said it was a sad reminder that the popular 36km River Loop — which the man and his group were riding at the time — included some dangerous sections.

In 2017, five cyclists were injured on the Dornoch Tce, West End, section of the route, sparking calls then for a speed drop.

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The River Loop route starts and ends in the CBD, traversing the University of Queensland, Indooroopilly, Chelmer, Yeerongpilly, Dutton Park, Highgate Hill and West End.

Mr Cox said he was not demanding lower speed limits, but said the idea was a suggestion which could help improve safety “for what is an increasingly popular cycle route that Brisbane rightly wants to promote’’.

“The River Loop is an extremely popular route in Brisbane, and is something Council has identified as a tourism attraction as cycling tourism becomes a much bigger market,’’ Mr Cox said.

“Unfortunately that means more cyclists, often in groups, along the same route along with motor vehicles, and so conflicts are more likely.

“It’s why Council proposed its ill-fated changes on Dornoch Terrace last year, to try and make the ‘north half’ of the loop safer.

The ‘south half’ through Indooroopilly, Graceville, Tennyson and Yeronga is another story, and very little of it is on off-road bikeways.

“The route through Yeronga does require several turns at intersections, including Feez and Kadumba streets, and we know from crash data that that is the highest risk of collision.

“While it may not have made any difference in this incident, lower speed limits along the route — say, 40km/h — might improve safety since if you go into an intersection slower as a driver, you invariably have more time to look properly.’’

Mr Cox said cyclists often were obscured by the A pillar in a car, so slower turning movements helped.

But he conceded that might not be “palatable’’ along roads like King Arthur Tce, Tennyson, which carried a lot of traffic between Graceville and Tennyson.