August 16, 2024
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Cyclists push for change By Matt Hewson Geelong resident Ashley Goldstraw had come to accept cycling in car-dominated areas like central Geelong was dangerous. But two things spurred him to advocate for change. “I had a minor altercation with a car last year; it pulled out in front of me on the bike lane on Moorabool Street coming out of West Fyans Street,” he said. “I managed to slow down enough, but I still clipped the car. The bike went down; I didn’t go down, I stepped out and I was okay. “That was one of the things that got me motivated to get moving. The other was my kids. “My young teenage kids got into riding, gaining a bit of independence, but I just started thinking, I don’t know whether I want them riding out there.”
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Council needs to step up and provide more options for people to travel around - Ashley Goldstraw town
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In addition to founding advocacy group Bike Geelong, Mr Goldstraw, who has cycled most of his life, launched his YouTube channel Bike Route Buddy in October last year. It features weekly videos of Mr Goldstraw riding and reviewing areas and intersections of Geelong that could prove dangerous to other cyclists. His most watched video has received more than 18,000 views. “For something with such local content, it’s starting to get some traction and we’re starting to get a lot of views,” he said. “Ultimately, the more people that see it, the more influence that has on campaigning for some change in and around the city.” Geelong once had aspirations to become a cycling city. The Barwon Regional Strategic Bicycle Plan 1996 set the target of achieving 8 per cent of all journeys in the region by cycle by the year 2000 and 15 per cent by 2005. The City of Greater Geelong followed up that plan with its Greater Geelong Cycle Strategy 2008, which proclaimed Geelong had the “potential to become a world class cycling city”.
Ashley Goldstraw is advocating for a more bike-friendly Geelong. (Ivan Kemp) 424771_05
In 2020 Geelong council decided to spend $2 million tearing up new separated bike lanes built as part of the Green Spine project, and has since indefinitely paused stage two of its Southern Bike Link. In 2001, about 1.5 per cent of the region’s
population rode to work on census day. In 2016 that percentage dropped to 0.8, and during the lockdowns in 2021 the number was just 811 people, or 0.6 per cent of the working population. Mr Goldstraw said the cost of doing nothing
would exceed the cost of implementing safe cycling infrastructure by “orders of magnitude”. Continued: Page 3.
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