GREENS MLC Brad Pettitt has slammed Main Roads for stripping out cycling infrastructure and favouring cars ahead of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge closure on Sunday.
The 86-year-old timber bridge will be closed for the next 12 months while its extradosed replacement is completed.
But Pettitt said changes to traffic lanes in Fremantle — including the removal of previously generous bike lanes — have made it harder to ride around town and contradict official goals to get more people walking and cycling to ease the chaos.
“Until this week there was a quite a nice, wide, generous bike lane going into the middle of Fremantle,” he said of the top of Hampton Road near Fremantle Park.
“Now they’ve eaten it. So there’s two lanes of traffic and no bike lanes in either direction.
“If you want more people riding around Freo… then you need to actually have those bike lanes in place… [they’re] just taking them out and replacing them with cars again and again.”
• Keen cyclist Brad Pettitt tries negotiating the temporary roundabout on Hampton Road.
He said the pattern of removing cycle infrastructure, while dedicating effort to keep cars moving during the bridge closure, will discourage people from switching to bikes or walking — even though Main Roads’ own consultation found more than a third of people would ride or walk more if there was safe walking and cycling infrastructure.
“This is not that. This is the opposite.
“This makes it less safe, so people are going to be less likely to do it,” he said. “We’re going to see more people driving, which is exactly what Main Roads actually don’t want to see happen.”
Cyclists in the community have echoed these concerns. Last year, Fremantle Bicycle Users Group members described the Stirling Bridge detour as “noisy, scary, intimidating” and warned narrow paths and low barriers put riders and pedestrians at risk.
Mayor Ben Lawver said the City of Fremantle and councillors had pushed for a “more comprehensive response” from the Cook government ahead of the closure.
With little movement from Main Roads so far, he said the city now faces two options: “prepare to do what we can as a city” — such as free transit initiatives and better bike access — or “hope our State Gov moves quickly… and resolve any issues identified once the closure happens.”
The bridge closure, is expected to last up to a year, with Main Roads saying the new crossing will improve safety and active transport connections once complete.
by STEVE GFRANT