It's almost built now :) I run over the narrow footpath on the Causeway bridge most days, can't wait for the new one. Costs north of $100m for a grade-separated intersection for cars, this is worth it!

Thank yo so much for information about the current situation

New asphalt is the nicest, but otherwise it's not the material, but how well they're maintained that matters

Excellent presentation. Hopefully the extension to Fremantle will happen soon as in my opinion it’s probably the most unsafe riding conditions in Perth

Clearly a cycle path designed by non cyclists as many are around Perth. Unfortunately these paths generate road rage when cyclists use the road as a safer option. An example of this is along the coast (Sorrento) where pedestrian safety zones in the middle of the further reduce safe passing opportunities. Also riding through Scarborough were the safe cycle path was “value engineered” out of the foreshore project. Local Governments knee jerk response to conflict between pedestrians and bikes has been to install ridiculous speed limit signs. There needs to be a mechanism to drive Local Government accountability

I reckon its just poor interpretation of the requirements of council by contractors.

I agree, that part of the bike path/infrastructure is crappy. I would be great to have a good path from the bridge to the coast or that short cut side street (dont know its name). Most take to the road to get a smooth fast and puncture free commute through there.

Thats always been the shittiest part of a Freo ride even without road works. The Roadies never use the bike path and always block up the road. There are videos on that stretch and those lights with car/bike altercations. I rode through there last week with only minor irritation except for the Roadie not looking and cutting me off.

I have never seen anyone use those racks. The day went in I thought they were badly located. When we go to the Camfield we take the bikes just inside. My guess is with all the cost over runs on that place the bike parking was a low priority.

..and this is only going to increase, bikes, mobility scooters, carts, trikes..the population is aging.

Yeah this is a case of narrow-mindedness entirely. The whole focus then is to see only one side of the story, and correct things with only that in mind, missing the bigger picture. Flogging the cyclists is easier than flogging the drivers.

You will notice coming from eastern states that Perth street signage in general is pretty poor. Intersections in older suburbs often do not have street names on the intersection but further back on the approach to an intersection. This makes it hard to navigate as a pedestrian or a cyclist standing at the intersection. This was very annoying pre google maps. 28 views in three years gives you some idea of how the locals feel about it in the smart phone era.

And half way up they have narrowed the road so riding on the road is also dangerous at that point

I see this kind of thing all over the place where I live too. On multi-use paths. I surmise a few lines of reasoning for it. The idea is to block cars from driving on them. They primarily do not think of cyclists, but walkers. If they do think of cyclists, they're only thinking of slower recreational riders or lots of people at the same time and slower speeds. They see these as well marked enough for people to see to avoid. Also, they'd assume anyone who rides these paths knows the obstacle points, therefore there'd be little danger. No one who puts these in are really cyclists themselves so the perspective isn't there. But what's really illogical here is that most of the paths are so narrow that no one is going to drive on them anyway. It's obvious it's not for cars. At the same time, any guy riding a motorcycle is going to be able to get by them and they will some of the time. So that leaves no valid reason for them to be there other than there being a hole in the asphalt they want to put a post into!

I'm from NSW and I didn't know that, I would at least expect a Pedestrian signal there.

Yea that’s not ideal. Waste of money. They seem to be doing a lot of this converting footpath to shared path, especially up in city of joondalup, and it just doesn’t work.

My sister in law hit one of these. She so damaged her knee that she has never been able to ride a bike again. On some other paths they have used chicanes. Hard enough for a normal bike but impassable for us on our tandem. Another uses gates which I can navigate having a stand on my bike. Those with road bikes struggle to cope with the spring loaded gate. We know why the barriers are needed but no one has yet come up with a great but safe design. We have spent a lot of money removing things like bridge supports in roads because no matter how visible they are made people still hit them. Why would bikes be magically different?

ha...ha...won't do that again

There needs to be an on-road protected bike lane so the footpath can be reserved for pedestrians.

The issue with putting asphalt in some of these locations is generally the height of the paver and/or truck needed to place the asphalt in the first place. If there are lots of trees to dodge, concrete can sometimes be easier to construct.

Maybe the top notch journalists at the Subiaco Post found some crash statistic data that the public don't know about? Are they saying that cyclists are better off riding on the busy street next to the cycleway?

Its not a proper cycleway unless there is a bollard, tree, power pole or road safety sign smack bang in the middle of it. But seriously IMHO choice of pavement is horses for courses. I did Wangaratta to Bright several years back and that was paved in crushed granite - velvety smooth. Otherwise new asphalt is my first choice but it doesn't take too long before degradation takes its toll. Concrete 2nd choice but maintains its qualities for much longer. So the more important issue is not choice of paving but whether there is a commitment to ongoing maintenance after the project reaches practical completion.

Cycling in a group is very dangerous.....

I have seen mulit-use paths where a raised concrete slab is ground down to the height of the adjacent slab to allow a smooth transition.

Yellow bollards wont stop what that reversing car in the video clip was doing, reversing out and then reversing some more into the bike path so they could turn right.

Generally asphalt but they get crazy hot on summer days

I prefer asphalt. It is does not last as long but nothing beats fresh asphalt.

Hi BayBUG, I prefer any cycle path to cycling on the road, mixing it with cars. The new concrete paths in Kings Park are certainly well constructed. Proper engineered expansion joints with steel reinforcing to prevent the “lifting” and “sagging” of slabs that cause the uneven paths over time. In addition, they prepared proper earthworks, sub-base and then cast a layer of “no-fines” concrete that I suppose will assist with drainage of groundwater. This will prevent the softening and subsidence of the sub-base. It may also prevent tree roots “following the damp spots” (nature is wonderful) collecting under the path. There is no reason why they should not follow proper road construction, base, sub-base and stabilized filling for asphalt paths. It will cost more, but save a lot on maintenance and repair work over time. Thanks for the interesting videos!

I'd leave the question of which is better to the engineers. I think the problem occurs when maintenance is ignored and that is evident not just in the surface but also the shrubs and trees that can impede on the path. We have some doozy paths here in Melbourne with shrubs growing almost across the entire path, debris strewn over the paths and the number of trucks and other maintenance vehicles parking or crossing paths to do maintenance on other infrastructure (not the paths).

Hi Nigel. Asphalt much better of course. Especially for a soft as butter, sunshine only rider like me 😅. Council has just been repairing concrete footpath on Alexander Drive between ECU/Mt Lawley HS and Yokine reserve - should have made it proper bike path (even if not a major cycle route). Stirling seems very poor on bike paths. Keep up the good work Rob

I bought one because i didn't know store person didn't explain me it's illegal to ride in NSW, so i returned to the store after a week that i find out, they didn't want to refund me. So i reported to fair trading they didn't seriously handle the case. I lost, they didn't want to refund but gave me a cheap e-bike. Dragon Raptor $1980 gave me ebike worth $1400 :(

What a great run down of perth's cycling infrastructure Nigel.

Bike parking must be a recent addition. Google street view doesn't show them. Apologies, the image I viewed was 2010 - street view actually does show them! (2024)

Lovely and informative narration, thanks.

anything is better than nothing I would like to see sidewalks and bike lanes on both side of a street/road

I have been affected by this construction for months now but good to see it is for a very good cause. My current route is along the Graham Farmer freeway bridge but will have to make a detour to try this one when complete.

That is an example for the entire country.

Try follow the psp from joondalup to perth if you want to see bad. Been closed for years now

We have a trail in our area along the Lachine Canal that has many trees close to the trail. There needs to be a considerable amount of work to clear the branches and the debris that falls each time after strong winds. Recently major work was done to repair the sides of the canal (they were crumbling) and I notice many of the trees in those areas were moved further away or cut down. So I guess it is a design issue. Having the trees close to the path means someone needs to cut, remove and clear more frequently than the planners would like. But the case you are showing doesn't look dangerous.

Glad I remembered this closure before I headed home from the city today. I ride this route most days (albeit in the dark of late, so have paid no mind to the small signs) and was only aware of the closure thanks to this channel.

What a great project Well thought out How lucky are we all to live in such a great city Massive thanks to the labour government

Inspired me to arrange a family ride on that route from kings park towards Freo. I’m all for…and acknowledge….the (wealthier) inner-suburb / coast councils spending on bike infrastructure which also benefits outer suburban “tourists” , good on them. But shows there’s a lot of money in City of Subiaco when they’re making already very safe and quiet roads into Safe & Active quiet roads:) Love your vids. If get time, more on outer suburban council areas too, please. You may find some very sharply different levels of bike infrastrucure… incl maintenance (a bike path with overhanging bushes, cracked paths, no signage, never been swept…is hardly a bike path…is it, City of Wanneroo!!) Maybe a series to find worst cycle path in all of Perth….with the upriver bike path on Narrows bridge as a marker!!

Thanks for sharing I wouldn’t of known that they are upgrading Shenton park ❤

The garbage bins are important. The federal agency in Montreal that takes care of the Lachine Canal bicycle path removed all the garbage bins and it was a disaster. They since put some plastic bins in a few places but I think they still need to replace some management and get their priorities strait. Nice to see such a clean looking path.

Yello (original location was on Trigg waterfront, since succumbed to apartment redevelopment) has always been a “read the blackboard” sort of place - great toasties, coffees, quick service, barefoot surfy vibe. Regulars would smile at the notion of a “men After many indifferent owners over the decades, since Sistas took over BBeach it’s been an ever improving place Did you take the shared path north of BBeach through the bush land to Mindarie? bizarre planning - after years of indecision, City of Wanneroo (And Joondalup?) finally got it built - linking Mindarie through to BB and southwards towards Mullaloo / Scarbs - but, instead of running the path along the coast (so can see the ocean…standard, right?) they run it inland, through the middle of the scrub. Still useful as a cycle path, but not of much interest to walkers? Who knows why built where it was. If didn’t want to build along the beachside due to Environmental concerns, why built it at all? Left with a nice…but massively underused…path through coastal scrub.

Hello

You take this bike path stuff seriously :)

I would be good to Bypass all the Subi area (as an option), and just follow the rail. Its a pain going through all the faff there.

A great video. Just one comment. I think shared paths along railway lines is a great idea, but I am more skeptical about riding on a separated path along the freeways or very busy highways such as Reid Highway. Riding in the traffic noise and inhaling fumes is not my idea of recreation or exercise. Fortunately my path to work avoids any of that - it includes a path along a rail line, a cycling only path along the river, a few loose ends on quiet suburban streets and one short section on bike lane on a busy road. Currently doing it once a week but aiming to increase to at least two. Cheers

PSP = 4 meters wide