“PPCC Communication”
January 2024
Hi all….Welcome to the January 2024 edition of the PPCC Communication.
Following the events of October 2023 where we lost our good friend and club member ‘JD’, a lot of discussion has been had on safer riding routes for Pirie cyclists with the Port Pirie Regional Council members, Mayor Leon Stephens and CEO Peter Ackland as well as Hon Geoff Brock MP and Brett Gillett from Bike SA.
Following the meeting at Bronte and Kerry’s immediately after the ‘accident’, a number of actions were agreed to so as to help in keeping cyclist safe until other solutions could be investigated.
There PPCC forwarded a 4 page submission with a number of cycling route options to the Port Pirie Regional Council along with BikeSA’s letter of support from CEO Brett Gillett to help in gaining funding to improve safety through separation of bikes and vehicles on current cycling routes and hopefully the initiation and implementation of new paths that meet Australian Standards to safely have cyclists and walkers make their way around the city and out to attractions like the foot of the Flinders Rangers to Napperby and Nelshaby.
As promised, we have seen a number of signs erected on both sides of Abattoirs Road warning motorists of cyclists in the area for which the PPCC and those Port Pirie Cyclists who cycle on Abattoirs Road are grateful for. Signs on Port Germein Road are yet to appear. It was also mentioned that lowing the speed limit to 80kph the entire length of Abattoirs Road would be investigated. One of the PPCC proposals was to have a bike path laid on the northern side of Abattoirs Road so as to separate cyclists and motor vehicles which was to be investigated and costed for funding by the Port Pirie Regional Council along with the number other cycling routes suggested in our submission.
A meeting with was organised by Council CEO Peter Ackland for Wednesday 24th January at 10:00am with attendees, myself and Bronte from our club, CEO Peter Ackland, Mayor Leon Stephens and Council Director of Infrastructure Kathryn Johnson to discuss options for safer riding routes for cyclists.
At the beginning of the meeting I thanked the Council members on behalf of the PPC C for their quick response to having signage erected at intervals on both sides of Abattoirs Road warning motorists of Cyclists on the road. The signs have helped but we still have those intent on seeing how close they can get to cyclists.
The recent event this week in Victoria was also discussed where a driver intentionally hit 2 cyclists putting both in hospital and tried for a 3rd but wasn’t successful. To make things more hideous, the driver filmed his actions for TicTok and thought it was quite amusing. The stolen car was discovered later burnt out with police still looking for the driver. Until we can separate cyclists and vehicles we as a club still feel ‘at risk’ when doing what we love to do….riding our bikes.
I also raised a recent event where one of our riders was close to being a road statistic when riding north along Senate Road across Kingston Road where a ‘luxury’ vehicle heading west on Kingston Road failed to give way and went through the intersection at speed. After realising the vehicle wasn’t going stop, front and back breaks were applied while standing on his pedals and he only pulled up a short distance from the vehicle with his back wheel off the ground. The speeding vehicle didn’t stop but 3 others did and asked if the rider was OK. Again this highlights the hazards of mixing bikes with vehicles on the road even with in the city limits.
Leon and Peter talked about the Abattoirs Road cycle path suggestion and talked about issues with the undulating road, drainage and land available to ‘lay’ the path. Kathryn pointed out that cycle/walking paths had to comply with Australian Standards which included the width of the path. It was suggested that if the path was to be funded, there would be areas where cyclists would have to come back onto the road surface due to areas where the path could not be laid. The cost for this option wasn’t really discussed but there was another reason for it not to be considered. Abattoirs Road was initially used as a ‘back road’ to Warnertown but now it sees lots of vehicle traffic which now includes heavy vehicles to the wheat bunkers and the new McMahons facility. The road is not designed for such traffic and eventually it will be ‘ripped’ up and re-laid to cater for heavy vehicles and this would include the destruction of any new cycling/walking path. So essentially it would be a waste of funding to which all agreed. Speed limit reduction to 80kph as proposed in earlier discussions from Abattoirs Road into Port Pirie was discussed but this is not the jurisdiction of the local council and an application has been made to the appropriate local government department for the reduction in speed limit.
The option put forward by the Council ‘reps’ to consider as a safer riding route was the Senate Road Extension, Airport Road, Port Davis Road back to Ferme Street option. This would require the sealing of a bike path on the eastern side of the 3km of dirt road or sealing the entire road surface back to the bitumen near Heidrichs Nursery.
We agreed this would be one of the safer riding options as currently there is not a lot of traffic on Senate Road Extension and Airport Road and it would give us a 15 to 18km riding circuit which could also be linked up by us to include the Magor Road, Wauchope Road, Railway Terrace and Harris Road route which would give cyclists a longer and a little safer route to ride. Pot holes on Magor Road and the condition of the intersection of Railway Terrace and Steam Train Road needs to be looked at so as to make riding safer.
Funding would have to be applied for by the Port Pirie Regional Council to seal the whole 3km of unsealed road and this was the preferred option rather than a bike path on the eastern edge of an unsealed road. Leon Stephens said ‘your safety’ is our concern and we want to provide safer riding routes for you.
Ironically, this option was discussed by those of the PPCC at coffee on the day prior to the meeting. Peter Ackland had mentioned this option when he phoned me prior to organising a meeting date. At coffee were discussing the whole road sealing vs’s cycling/walking path and it was mentioned by the ‘cynics’ in us that there was another agenda to as to why this option was picked by Council.
To the Council members credit, they did tell us that there was a ‘future’ plan to seal the whole road to Port Davis and to have this 3km section sealed would hopefully help the process to get funding for sealing the remainder of Port Davis Road.
The condition of Senate Road Extension near the new housing development was highlighted and we were told the road would be ‘fixed’ as part of the housing development project. Senate Road extension is ideal to ride on due to low traffic but the section between the new housing development south past the open areas to the houses on the southern end of Senate Road will need some work. The road is narrow and has potholes and broken surface in a number of areas. After reporting back to those at coffee after today’s ride, most agreed that this was a good option but were worried about traffic possibly increasing once the section of Port Davis Road was sealed.
Kathryn Johnson raised that ‘Bicycle Lanes’ around Port Pirie were discussed at Council but dismissed because these would prevent vehicles from parking on the road way. My response was the Bicycle Lanes can be made as ‘no parking’ areas between times when they are designated as Bike Lanes. Adelaide roads have many bike lanes that are no parking between certain times. We do have roads wide enough to incorporate bike lanes and I believe these would be a good option.
The new bike/walking path on Three Chain Road is about to be extended from Simpson Road to Magor Road and funding was applied for and obtained through 2 channels to complete the project. $200,000.00 from the ‘State Bicycle Fund’ (SBF) and a further $320,558.00 from the ‘Local Roads & Community Infrastructure Program’ (LRCIP). A great initiative which is also out for consultation asking for your thoughts. I have given my feedback and praised the extension but questioned why the number of paths around the city are not linked up. They appear to start and finish at a point of no interest. The priority should be to link them all together with the ultimate aim of getting walkers and cyclists out to areas like Napperby and Nelshaby to see the sites. Please go on line and have your say.
I did ask if the PPCC submission (11th November 2023) and the ‘Letter of Support’ from BikeSA (14th November 2023) helped in gaining funding for the extension of the Three Chain Road path and we were told no, it was not part of the process to gain funding. We didn’t have a problem if it was but would ask if the new extension could be named in honour of Steve and John. Leon Stephens said, council does not normally name tracks/paths etc after people but could consider installing a ‘seating’ bench on the new extension in memory of Steve and John. A note was taken to consider the request which would need to be run by Steve’s and John’s Families before proceeding.
A good meeting with lots of discussion on safer riding routes around the city. Granted the speed limits are lower around the city and fringe roads but separation where possible is the key to keeping cyclists safe. Both fatalities with in our club have not been the fault of the cyclists and separation would have prevented both and only weeks ago, we could have had another.
We finished off our submission to the council with a paragraph that I’m going to finish with again!
‘We acknowledge the initial and swift response by Council to implement speed reductions and signage. While we still have a long way to go to ensure our community has a safe cycling network, the early signs are encouraging. We look forward to continuing to work together to ensure we are all enjoying the benefits that cycling can contribute to our environment and tourism, but most importantly for the health and wellbeing of our community.’
Regards,
Brenton Hoare
President Port Pirie Cycle Club
Ph 0417 823 057
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