Request for Cape Town to apply new inner-city cycling lanes .

Request for Cape Town to apply new inner-city cycling lanes

Dedicated cycle lanes in Cape Town are offering cyclists a good alternative commuting option. But Andrew Boraine, Cape Town Partnership's chief executive, said the downside was they were also being illegally used as parking spaces by motorists.

The metropolis has invested in a Bicycle Master Plan, which identifies the most popular cycle routes.

Elias Tukushe, head of Universal Access and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) |in the city, said several potential NMT improvement projects had been identified and were being investigated.

Tukushe said the city had constructed lanes along Adderley Street, Heerengracht and Shortmarket Street in the CBD as function of the Inner-City Non Motorised Transport (NMT) Improvement Programme.

The most popular routes identified by the city include commuter routes - linking low-income communities to public transport interchanges and places of work (industrial and commercial areas) - and those used for recreation or training.

Tukushe said there was planning for a bicycle lane on the IRT's West Coast route.

"The footer and cycle links to the stations are being determined. This is a standard methodology in public transport planning, where a spoke of approximately 500 metres is set about a station as the walkable catchment.

"The most appropriate pedestrian and bike routes are then identified, and sidewalks, street lights and pedestrian crossings improved."

Tukushe said there was a thrust to restore the Rondebosch Cycle Demonstration Project, through maintenance, cleaning, improvements to pavements, and line painting.

The metropolis has allocated R100 million to NMT infrastructure for this fiscal year, which comes out of the city's Transport, Roads and Major Projects Directorate budget.

Boraine said the metropolis was doing a big job on the cycling lanes, but there were concerns around the strength of the design, particularly in the busy CBD. He pointed out on his blog how the introduction of bike lanes in Bree Street had given more distance to motorists for illegal parking.

"In other words, a perverse outcome to a well-intentioned project," he wrote.

Boraine said he did not recognize how law enforcement agencies were passing to apply the lanes as a consecrated space for cyclists.

"There are no signs warning motorists or delivery vehicles not to infringe on the cycle lanes."

The solution was that cyclists were cycling in the traffic.

"In fact, it's now still more grievous because one has to regularly cut out of the bicycle lane into traffic to get about the illegal vehicles," he said.

Boraine's blog sparked support, with several respondents calling for motorists to be fined or subjected to a "call and shame" campaign. Other suggestions were to get Central City Improvement District officers on board.

NMT improvements or projects have likewise been undertaken along sections of Bosduif and Hazel roads in Athlone, NY1 in Gugulethu, Emms Drive in Nyanga, Bhunga Bridge across the N2 in Langa, Spine, Lwandle and Walter Sisulu roads in Khayelitsha, Symphony Way in Delft, and Van Riebeeck Road in Eerste River.

Andrew Boraine's blog

Cape Argus

Posted at 10:05AM Dec 02, 2010by Editor in Cities and Towns |Comments[0]