Community Path Priority List
ANALYSIS
Transport Canberra (TCCS) is the department of many lists. The Community Path Priority List is one of these lists. The ACT Government’s own Active Travel Standard (MIS05) for bike paths mandate a minimum 2.5 m path width in retrofit (replacement) and even wider for new paths. Many paths on the Community Path Priority List are not compliant as cycle infrastructure. Those that are compliant, belong to the strategic cycle infrastructure and are found here.
Overview
The TCCS FOI 21-126 Community Path Priority List (2021-11-17) contains 569 projects but only 40 match the minimum criteria or better for strategic cycle infrastructure. The total length of the strategic paths is close 19 km and could be built for $10.2 million. Some projects are quite short but 8 projects are greater than a kilometre in length.
| total projects | 569 |
|---|---|
| strategic | 40 |
| % | 7% |
| total distance | 18970 m |
| min length | 7 m |
| max length | 2200 m |
2021-11-17 FOI 21-126 Community path priority list, compiled canberrabike, 19 March 2022.
ACT Greens have adopted a wishlist approach to strategic cycle infrastructure inviting everybody to suggest where they would like the path. Community Councils have another opinion on investment priorities. The proposed active travel network shown in the Active Travel Infrastructure Practitioner Tool is not up-to-date. The TCCS strategic policy documents – ACT Transport Strategy – show the CBR Cycle Routes as a strategic network but investment in this network has largely been neglected.
The problem is not a lack of ideas but rather where to start, how to find the FTE to do the work, and including the necessary capital in the budget. We need more building instead of making new lists. Many of the bike paths on Canberran’s wish lists have been discussed since 2003. TCCS tends to procrastinate when overwhelmed with along list. This article focuses on the 39 strategic cycling projects TCCS Community Path Priority List (stand 2021-11-17).
The cost lies around $1 million for 6000 square metres of surface. For a 3 m wide path, the length of the path would be about 2 km.
Analysis by canberrabike from the data from FOI 21-126 and FOI 21-008 Community path priority list
Investment required for strategic cycle infrastructure
The total investment is estimated to be $10.2 million. Cost estimates were missing for three projects – perhaps the projects were new to the list. Good value for money!
| rank 10 Dec 21 | Road | Suburb | score | estimate $000 | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Luxton Street | Belconnen | 71 | $24 | |
| 3 | Kingsland Parade | Casey | 70 | $5 | |
| 12 | Hardwick Crescent | Holt | 58 | $518 | |
| 17 | Callam Street | Phillip | 52 | $61 | |
| 24 | Yamba Drive | Garran | 49 | $394 | |
| 34 | Taverner Street | Oxley | 46 | $296 | |
| 40 | Haydon Drive | Bruce | 45 | $812 | |
| 41 | Stockman Avenue | Lawson | 45 | $678 | |
| 54 | Athllon Drive | Phillip | 43 | $347 | |
| 76 | Yamba Drive | Mawson | 39 | $398 | |
| 79 | Wonga Street | O´Connor | 38 | $291 | |
| 90 | Newcastle Street | Fyshwick | 37 | $1338 | |
| 99 | Tharwa Drive | Calwell | 39 | $162 | |
| 103 | Lennox Crossing | Acton | 35 | $86 | |
| 109 | Athllon Drive | Mawson | |||
| 125 | William Slim Drive | Giralang | 34 | $33 | |
| 130 | Eyre Street | Kingston | 33 | $180 | |
| 142 | Bugden Avenue | Fadden | 33 | $17 | |
| 146 | Michael Holt Crescent | Conder | 32 | $303 | bridge |
| 148 | Katoomba Street | Harrison | 32 | $165 | |
| 153 | Menindee Drive | Barton | 32 | $158 | |
| 158 | Dixon Drive | Holder | |||
| 164 | Victoria Street | Hall | 32 | $508 | |
| 200 | Cotter Road | Holder | 31 | $72 | |
| 213 | Schlich Street | Yarralumla | 30 | $101 | |
| 220 | Julia Flynn Garden | Isaacs | 30 | $71 | |
| 242 | Shannon Circuit | Kaleen | 29 | $422 | |
| 247 | Athllon Drive | Wanniassa | 28 | $26 | |
| 254 | Cotter Road | Duffy | 28 | $86 | |
| 291 | Gungahlin Drive | Mitchell | 26 | $5 | |
| 316 | Trinity Christian School | Wanniassa | 25 | $64 | |
| 351 | Charles Weston School | Coombs | 23 | $12 | |
| 359 | Riley Place | Chifley | 22 | $28 | |
| 370 | Isabella Drive | Isabella Plains | 22 | $203 | |
| 378 | Alexandrina Drive | Yarralumla | 21 | $153 | |
| 381 | Hindmarsh Drive | Duffy | 21 | $634 | |
| 456 | Traynor Court | Melba | 17 | $1576 | bridge |
| 464 | Kavangal Circuit | Ngunnawal | |||
| 503 | Mackellar Crescent | Cook | 14 | $7 | |
| Totals | 39 | $10234 |
2021-11-17 FOI 21-126 and 2021-01-28 FOI 21-008 Community path priority list, compiled canberrabike, 19 March 2022.
How much does a community path cost in the ACT? Cost of the project versus the area of the path.
Figure 1: How much does a community path cost in the ACT? Cost of the project versus the area of the path. 2021-11-17 FOI 21-126 and 2021-01-28 FOI 21-008 Community path priority list, compiled canberrabike, 19 March 2022.
Canberra.bike has been interested in costing the construction of bike paths in the ACT for some time. TCCS has the data but does not make it public. The TCCS FOI 21-126 and FOI 21-008 provide a sizeable sample of data to do so.
How much does it cost to build a bike path in the ACT?
The cost lies around $1 million for 6000 square metres of surface. For a 3 m wide path, the length of the path would be about 2 km.
The strategic cycle infrastructure
| Rank | Road | Suburb | length (m) | width (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Luxton Street | Belconnen | 65 | 2.5 |
| 3 | Kingsland Parade | Casey | 10 | 2.5 |
| 12 | Hardwick Crescent | Holt | 1150 | 2.5 |
| 17 | Callam Street | Phillip | 110 | 3 |
| 24 | Yamba Drive | Garran | 700 | 2.5 |
| 34 | Taverner Street | Oxley | 985 | 2.5 |
| 40 | Haydon Drive | Bruce | 1880 | 3 |
| 41 | Stockman Avenue | Lawson | 1130 | 2.5 |
| 54 | Athllon Drive | Phillip | 120 | 4 |
| 76 | Yamba Drive | Mawson | 1100 | 2.5 |
| 79 | Wonga Street | O´Connor | 60 | 3 |
| 90 | Newcastle Street | Fyshwick | 2200 | 3 |
| 99 | Tharwa Drive | Calwell | 450 | 2.5 |
| 103 | Lennox Crossing | Acton | 183 | 3 |
| 109 | Athllon Drive | Mawson | 755 | 2.5 |
| 125 | William Slim Drive | Giralang | 52 | 3 |
| 130 | Eyre Street | Kingston | 400 | 2.5 |
| 142 | Bugden Avenue | Fadden | 45 | 2.5 |
| 146 | Michael Holt Crescent | Conder | 7 | 2.5 |
| 148 | Katoomba Street | Harrison | 500 | 2.5 |
| 153 | Menindee Drive | Barton | 435 | 2.5 |
| 158 | Dixon Drive | Holder | 164 | 2.5 |
| 164 | Victoria Street | Hall | 1085 | 3 |
| 185 | Morshead Drive | Campbell | 660 | 4 |
| 200 | Cotter Road | Holder | 200 | 2.5 |
| 213 | Schlich Street | Yarralumla | 258 | 2.5 |
| 220 | Julia Flynn Garden | Isaacs | 183 | 2.5 |
| 242 | Shannon Circuit | Kaleen | 1074 | 2.5 |
| 247 | Athllon Drive | Wanniassa | 60 | 2.5 |
| 254 | Cotter Road | Duffy | 240 | 2.5 |
| 291 | Gungahlin Drive | Mitchell | 11 | 2.5 |
| 316 | Trinity Christian School | Wanniassa | 85 | 2.5 |
| 351 | Charles Weston School | Coombs | 34 | 2.5 |
| 359 | Riley Place | Chifley | 78 | 2.5 |
| 370 | Isabella Drive | Isabella Plains | 520 | 2.5 |
| 378 | Alexandrina Drive | Yarralumla | 425 | 2.5 |
| 381 | Hindmarsh Drive | Duffy | 1300 | 2.5 |
| 456 | Traynor Court | Melba | 210 | 2.5 |
| 464 | Kavangal Circuit | Ngunnawal | 28 | 2.5 |
| 503 | Mackellar Crescent | Cook | 18 | 2.5 |
| Totals | 40 | 18970 | 2.5 min |
2021-11-17 FOI 21-126 Community path priority list, compiled canberrabike, 19 March 2022.
Figure 2: 2021-11-17 FOI 21-126 Community path priority list, compiled canberrabike, 19 March 2022.