New details of the next stage of Canberra's light rail released last week included plans for new cycling infrastructure, but the ACT's peak cycling body say it's not enough.
Pedal Power ACT welcomed the announcement stage 2A's design would include the construction of four protected cycleways on major roads, but said the four included in the plans were insufficient.
Jo Pybus, whose husband was hit by a car while cycling along Northbourne Avenue six months ago, agrees.
On September 14 last year, a driver on Northbourne Avenue moved from the middle lane to the left lane without checking their blind spot, causing a car already in the left lane to swerve and hit Ms Pybus' husband.
He was taken to the hospital and placed in an induced coma after suffering a seizure in the ambulance.
Ms Pybus said her husband was currently in a neck brace with a number of serious vertebrae fractures and was facing the possibility of surgery next month.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Major Collisions Team found the driver in the middle lane at fault.
Ms Pybus questioned why the government had not introduced protected cycling infrastructure on Northbourne Avenue when the 2018 City and Gateway Urban Design Framework had already explored upgrading key on-road cycling lanes to protected bike lanes.
"Had the government followed its own advice and upgraded Northbourne Avenue with a protected cycleway when they constructed the light rail, [my husband] would not be in this situation," she said.
"Why are there still six lanes for vehicles on Northbourne Avenue, and why is it no safer for vehicles or cyclists than it was pre-light rail?
"Here we are five years later and they have baulked at two opportunities to implement this with minimum disruption, the first time being when they actually put light rail in – because that report predates the beginning of light rail actually operating – and they also missed an opportunity during COVID."
Ms Pybus said while people may see Canberra as a cyclist-friendly city, attempts at creating protected or specifically marked cycling infrastructure were often inconsistent throughout the capital.
"It makes it confusing not only for cyclists but for the vehicles," she said.
"In stage 2A of light rail it shows that similar inconsistency, where all of a sudden a cyclist who's been on a protected piece of pathway for maybe a couple of city blocks is all of a sudden then onto the road, and the car that's been driving along next to them all of a sudden has them launched in front of them.
"The distress of a cyclist being hit by a car doesn't just land on the cyclist either, it's very distressing for the driver.
"I'm an experienced cyclist myself, and predictability is paramount to cyclists' safety."
Side-swiped cyclists a recurring problem
Road crash data shows Ms Pybus's husband's experience isn't uncommon. Northbourne Avenue has long been an area of concern for cyclists.
The data, collected over the past decade, is limited to incidents that were reported online or to which police responded.
More than half of these crashes happened in the inner northern suburbs, with concentrations along Northbourne as well as areas in the city that have bike lanes.
About 43 per cent of the Northbourne incidents were attributed to a "side swipe" from a vehicle travelling in the same direction.
About 41 per cent of the Northbourne crashes resulted in injury.
'Cyclists will end up riding either on the road or the pedestrian footpath'
Pedal Power executive director Simon Copland said the protected intersections to be introduced as part of light rail stage 2A were a good step in the right direction, with them set to be the first of their kind in Canberra.
"We are happy to see from the consultation documents released that the government is building protected cycle lanes around most of the western side of London Circuit and that they are building protected intersections on the corner of London Circuit and Northbourne Avenue and the corner of London Circuit and Commonwealth Drive," he said.
Mr Copland said the separated cycleways could provide a template for future developments across the city, something he believed was sorely needed.
"However, we are extremely disappointed that the protected cycle lane stops between University Avenue and Edinburgh Avenue going southwards, and between Edinburgh Avenue and West Row going northwards," he said.
"In both instances, cyclists will end up riding either on the road or the pedestrian footpath, neither of which are safe outcomes.
"This will create 'missing links' that will stop people from cycling."
