Location: Merri Creek Trail/Capital City Trail, under Heidelberg Rd, Clifton Hill, Melbourne
Local Council: Yarra Council; Melbourne Water must be consulted about any works under the bridge.
Responsibility: Yarra Council. Try Mark Kulyk was the contact person for the Bike Strategy of the council, 2010, but has moved on. You might try MD who works on bike pathsLocal Council: Yarra Council; Melbourne Water must be consulted about any works under the bridge.
Only the fit and those with gears can make it up. For everybody else it is get off and walk. For those with toddlers or prams it is a nightmare. Wheelchair, no chance. Coming down, you need very good brakes.
If this has not been enough, in early 2010 Yarra Council made things considerably worse by re-routing the paths at the top of the hill in Halls Reserve, adding another half a meter to the distance you have to climb at the top of the hill (see last photo below). We understand what they were doing but this was tackling the wrong issue first. They were carrying out path realignments suggested in the the Merri Creek Trail Review of 2007 but have made things worse for cyclists going up and down the hill. That earlier document, by the way, makes no suggestions about fixing the steep slope, other than to suggest cyclists dismount going down, with signs to that effect (we all ignore them). It also recommended a barrier at the top to slow downward cyclists. That would be really great if you were struggling uphill, wouldn't it? (there used to be one-it was removed).
Solution: Simply telling people to dismount is sloppy bike planning. Regrade the path. No barriers. A switchback is one solution. Simply flattening the slope a bit, at the top, would do. Is this prioritised in the Yarra Bicycle Strategy 2010-2015? No. I am not convinced the author of that document ever rode this path, which is an essential city trail - hence its name. There are vague statements in the Strategy about the difficulties of fixing paths that are not up to code, but no plans to actually spend any money.
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An earlier bit of correspondence. Acknowledged but that was all.
ReplyDeleteT
From:
Sent: Thursday, 22 October 2009 5:15 PM
To: Kulyk, Mark
Subject: yarra cycling strategy
An announcement about this was circulated in our Spensley Street primary school newletter yesterday, hence the short notice and I haven't examined the whole document, but I would like to comment on the steep gradient hill under the Heidelberg Road on the Merri Ck path.
DIFFICULT
I use this path all the time, but since my son (aged 6) has started school at Spensley St Primary School, we are using this twice daily on our bikes. I find it hard to believe that a hill of this gradient was designed in the first place, especially given the location (about 100m from a primary school). Most adults struggle up this hill on bikes, many get off and walk. Children have real difficulty. My son tries to pedal as high as he can which causes him to veer from left to right and to get off at some stage. It is off-putting for children (and adults!) and is impossible to manage with a child in a bike seat - the front wheel literally rears off the ground at a certain point. My friend with a school-aged child and a toddler cannot even attempt to come this way on bikes.
DANGEROUS
Returning down this path can be dangerous, especially in the wet. Soil slides down from the banks above and covers part of the higher side of the path making skidding a strong possibility. Smaller children are at greater risk as they don't have the level of control on their bikes. My son is a confident and reasonably good rider at 6, but even he has a level of nervousness about the gradient, quite rightly.
SOLUTION
Why not a less steep gradient, bring the path out onto the reserve at a different point (but not making the school too inaccessible). I've heard that a switchback path has been discussed in the past. PLEASE can we get onto this and find a workable solution as soon as possible. I feel sure that it would increase the numbers of children and adults riding along this trail.
Still no action! Jul '12
ReplyDeleteI broke my arm yesterday coming down the slope under heidelburg rd. I thought I was going to die. I don't even recall any signs and had no clue because it was my first time on the trail. Something should be done, so dangerous that at the bottom there's such a sharp turn (where I ended up on rocks).
ReplyDeleteBad. Sorry about your accident. We will step up the campaign.
ReplyDeleteIn jan 2012, my wife's cousins were visiting and their two daughters wheeled their bikes down the hill. The youngest, aged 6, lost control of her bike and fell over, resulting in nasty grazes. I'm not posting the photos obviously, but she was upset and her parents angry.
ReplyDeleteIn 2013, the Parks people at the top of the slope have made things worse by deliberately stopping walkers and cyclists from taking short cuts across the park to access the bike path to continue southwards. The sign, which was still there recently, is objectionable - it intimates that they chose to ignore the 'wear line' (where people actually want to go).
ReplyDelete