A new two-year action plan has been released by the Queensland government as part of its state cycling strategy that aims to embed cycling into Queensland’s culture, communities and economy.
The Queensland Cycling Action Plan 2020-2022 details a number of actions for the next two years, all aligned to the goals of the overall strategy of building and connecting infrastructure, encouraging more people to ride, sharing roads and public spaces, powering the economy and using research and data.
Some of the projects are already underway, a counter on the government website says 60 actions in the overall plan are complete or being finalised, however the action plan does include funding for work in the near future.
More than $100m will be allocated in the next two years for the design and construction of bike infrastructure and cycling promotion.
Another $4.22m will be allocated through the Active Transport Investment Program to rehabilitate and improve existing TMR off-road cycleways and publish technical guidance on cycleway maintenance.
An emphasis is also placed on helping people arrive at their destination including developing a plan to help bike parking be planned across public transport and the delivery of secure bike parking at stations on the Queensland Rail network.
Easy to tick off actions within the sharing roads and public spaces section include:
- developing training materials to support setting appropriate speed limits in places that people ride and walk
- consulting the construction industry on how to reduce risks posed by heavy vehicles to people on bikes.
There's plenty of existing literature and examples of why 30km/h speed limits should be used in built-up areas, while physical changes to trucks such as lower driver cabins and side under-run rails can stop and reduce the severity of crashes.
Rail trails score a mention in the economy section, with their great ability to get people into regional areas and spending money.
Further planning will be done for the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail while a feasibility study will be done on the development of an off-road route from Brisbane to Gold Coast.
Overall there are 66 individual action items in the plan, with most of them the responsibility of the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
You can download the new Queensland Cycling Action Plan 2020–2022 and see the full Queensland Cycling Strategy here.
Download action plan