A MOTION will come before Shoalhaven City Council on Tuesday, April 15 to rescind an earlier resolution to design and construct part of the concrete shared pathway at Orion Beach Reserve (stage 1), with design, construction and approval process for stage 2 to follow.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Stage 1 is the section from Minerva Avenue to the right of footway at 322 Elizabeth Drive, accessible only to pedestrians.
For cyclists, strollers and wheelchairs, there is no exit at the end of stage 1. If stage 2 never materialises (construction is not guaranteed), stage 1 will become a dead-end cycleway to nowhere, and Vincentia will have its own white elephant, courtesy of Shoalhaven City Council.
It behoves any responsible government to ensure any planned infrastructure project is viable as a whole, with one complete design, one complete approval process and full funding in place before construction is even contemplated.
Arbitrary division of a project into stages to build-as you-go is fraught with real risk of failure.
If council abandoned its plan to put in a concrete bicycle path, it could instead use the federal funding promised to construct a track and trail walk for the whole of the Orion Beach section without putting a dent in council’s budget.
Isn’t this a better idea? The savings could fund basic infrastructure such as footpaths in the Shoalhaven where pedestrians risk their lives every day when walking on roads. A child was killed in Vincentia when struck down by a car in these circumstances. In Walmer Avenue, Sanctuary Point, a tragic accident is waiting to happen as people pushing prams and disabled persons using mobility devices dodge cars when forced to use the road.
There are numerous other examples of this lack of basic infrastructure in the Shoalhaven. The public demands and deserves better.
A. Spira,
Vincentia.