2014 is flying! We have a renewed Government, new local MPs and a new Minister of Transport. And all sorts of things are happening in the Port’s bike world!

1. Outer Harbour Greenway:         The Outer Harbour Greenway’s bicycle and pedestrian actuated (BAPA) crossings at Woodville Road and Cheltenham Parade are now operational! We’ve tried them out and they’re great with an ‘average wait’ of about 15-30 seconds! Woo-hoo!

The new St Clair sections of the Greenway’s shared use path (SUP) are open from Cheltenham Parade through to Woodville Road although there are still significant issues of route design and signage to be addressed at the Eastern end!  DPTI staff tell us that a user controlled crossing will be also be provided at the end of Belmore Trc at its junction with David Trc (Kilkenny Road). Previous communications with Minister Koutsantonis indicated that DPTI would also provide a similar crossing at South Road pending eventual construction of a combined train & bike overpass!

Towards the Port new work has been completed on the approaches and surfaces of the Red Hill Bridge SUP tunnel under Grand Junction Road although much still remains to be done to complete the associated ramps and signage  on the Greenway sections between Alberton and the Port itself.

Recent work saw removal of disused rail tracks from Lipson St. Somewhere in the midst of this work the exit ramp for the Greenway Path onto Lipson St was also removed and replaced by a nice tall concrete gutter – an obvious ‘blue’ by the designers or contractors involved! The PA/E Council’s Technical Services assure us that “it was not Council’s intention to remove the ramp… Council is planning to do more work on Lipson St [and] will fix the ramp as part of this.”

The BUG continues to develop its Greenway Web Pages We are aware that even though the Greenway is not yet complete, many residents of the Port and suburbs closer to the City are already using it! If you have photos of the Greenway you’d like to contribute to our web page (we’d love some of families and children using the route) please contact the editor The BUG also welcomes any comments or concerns you may have regarding the route’s development – we’re happy to take them to Council or DPTI on your behalf.

2. Harbour Loop:         The waterfront sections of the Harbour Loop ‘Stage 1’ at the Western end of the Harbour approach completion and look great. However the BUG will continue to alert planners to need for the Loop’s connection to the off-road bike paths on Semaphore Road and our proposals for this.

The BUG notes recent work to extend the Harbour Loop to the maze crossing adjacent to the Glanville Rail station car park but it’s not known whether Port Renewal intend taking the pathway further to join up with Semaphore’s bike paths at the Causeway/Semaphore Rd junction. We’ll follow this up!

3. Velo-City Colloquium Invitation:         In the latest update for May’s VeloCity Congress, a free event has been announced – the European Cyclists’ Federation’s (ECF) Scientists for Cycling Colloquium on 26 May 2014.

“This colloquium will bring together academics, government and business leaders to look at the science behind sustainable mobility development, and the planned and current research on how to form bike-friendly and mobile cities.”

When & Where:         Monday 26 May 2014, 9 -5.30. Refreshments & lunch provided. Bradley Forum, Level 5, Hawke Building, 55 North Terrace, University of South Australia City West campus. All colloquium attendees are also invited to the Mayoral and Ministerial reception for ECF network members. This reception will be held at the Adelaide Town Hall. Please email velo-city@ecf.com to register.

4. The Port’s Arterial Roads: In late 2013 the PortBUG wrote to Minister Koutsantonis about the urgent need to improve the situation for bike riders on our local main roads – notably Causeway and Military Road and Hart Street. A recent reply saw DPTI and the Minister’s office make a number of very positive commitments which we detail at our Main Road Campaign web page.