Renegade riders spray-paint bike symbols on 'risky' Perth road

[rolandp]

From ABC

Guerrilla cycling activists who say they are sick of waiting for a Perth council to take action have spray-painted bike priority markings in the dead of night on a road they say is dangerous.

The group struck overnight on Rutland Avenue in Victoria Park, which local Maxine Drake said was a recognised bikeway, but was not marked as such.

More here

[DavidS]

Way to go, well done.

DS

[Scott_C]

I didn't comprehend exactly how narrow this road was (it doesn't have a centreline marking which makes judging the 'lane' width harder) until last weekend when I crossed paths with a rail replacement bus service when I was driving. I was hard against the curb on my side of the road and I could hear the bus trimming the roadside trees on their side and it was still an uncomfortably close pass even at reduced speed.

I have been squeezed 3 wide through here before (me on bike at 35kph, overtaking car at ~60kph oncoming car at ~50kph) and hate to think how little gap must have been left, fortunately they were both small cars.

It is absurd that this has been part of a nominated principal transport route for commuting cyclists since at least the 1996 Perth Bicycle Plan and didn't have any markings except for 2 "Look for Bike" signs at the footbridge at the crest of the hill until these guerrilla markings were installed. It is also one of 7 nominated priority areas in the current 2014 WA Bicycle Network Plan that is meant to be resolved by 2023 but according to DoT no funding has been allocated prior to June 2022.

[rolandp]

The road in question has Local Government Funding in 2017/18:
Rutland Avenue Segregated Bike Lane $90,000 in 2017-18 Town of Victoria Park
Dept. Transport Local Government Funding

And yet the Mayor of Vic. Park is quoted as:

Town of Victoria Park Mayor Trevor Vaughan said he understood why the group had done it.
"I can understand the frustration, in fact I've cycled that very often myself," he said.
"The town has for the last 15 years been trying to get the funds to put in a shared cycleway along there."
But he said they had not been able to secure the funding from the State Government.

Who is telling the truth?