Berowra New Bike Lane Study : The Chaos Has Begun : Transport For NSW Feedback

A new dedicated Cyclist lane has been installed on the Pacific Highway at Berowra, Sydney. It's called The Berowra Cycleway Project which was first proposed in October 2023 and became active in January 2024. It all seems like a very rushed affair. The Pacific Highway heading North at Berowra has been reduced from 3 lanes down to 2 with a dedicated Cycleway now occupying the left hand lane up to the Berowra Waters Rd intersection.
In my video study of this new Berowra Cycleway I show how a left hand turn into Berowra streets from the Pacific Highway is setting up a dangerous trend with drivers doing very late turns left from the middle lane. I call these dangerous late left turns 'duck dive turns'
These sudden late turns are having a knock on effect to other vehicles behind the vehicle turning left. The Berowra Cycleway has created many negative experiences for users of the Pacific Highway at Berowra and potentially setting up a more dangerous situation for Cyclists who are traversing left turn intersections on the Cycleway.
I show in the video the glaring inconsistencies of Bike lanes along the Pacific Highway from Asquith heading north to Berowra. New sections of curbside that have no considerations for Cyclists at all. Yet at Berowra a total road lane is handed over for Cyclists to use. The los of this lane has impacted local residents, local businesses and large semi trucks trying to stop on the highway to grab refreshments at the 7 Eleven at Berowra.
Just as I was finishing this video I was contacted by local residents about another problem where cars in the afternoon peak times are getting cut off from turning left into Berowra Waters Road because many motorists were entering the new Cycleway across the unbroken lines. So it's more evidence that the new problems on the Pacific Highway at Berowra are stacking up.
Anyway my video will be sent to Matt Kean, Hornsby MP and he can pass it onto Transport For NSW. The world is watching Matt.
Web Links :
www.julianleeser.com.au/news/...
Go Together - Sharing the road with bicycle riders
• Go Together - Sharing ...
www.transport.nsw.gov.au/road....

[@leokimvideo]

Lets keep the comments focused on what's seen and said in the video. Please don't start Cyclists Vs Cars comment fights. We need to act like adults here because people far smarter than us who installed this Cycleway will be carefully reading every comment. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS VIDEO RELATED TO ROAD SAFETY. We will get back to silly stuff next video. And please let's never forget Teddy 😿

[@MofaGames]

You said „you give some people an inch, and they‘ll want to take a mile“ when refering to two cyclists using the bike lane as they‘re entitled to but you want your comments to not devolve into ‚Cyclists vs Motorists‘?! How about you don‘t start that conversation yourself?

[@bluebellsforever]

But I don't wanna act like an adult

[@leokimvideo]

I never said they are not entitled to use the whole bike lane, that piece of video illustrates how a whole bike lane with cyclists riding on the edge still has an impact on vehicle drivers who legally need to avoid cyclists by 1 meter when passing in 60kph and under zones. Above 60kph the distance required is 1.5 meters. Everyone who uses a road network needs to consider their impact on other users. How inconsiderate to ride on the very edge of the cycleway when they have so much space to NOT have an impact on other road users.

[@MofaGames]

@@leokimvideo You‘re proving my point in your response. Whether or not some cyclists were inconsiderate or rude really has absolutely nothing to do with road safety concerns. I have no clue why you‘re bringing it up.

[@leokimvideo]

It's very obvious to me you're a troublemaker, thanks for never ending input to create more trouble

[@eppiox]

I cycle a bit but mainly on bike tracks (avoid roads) - It's nice when they make a track that doesn't join on the road - which they totally could have done here, those nature strips are huge! Makes it safer for cyclists and keeps them off the road, ah well

[@Shitphototaker69]

I just cant understand why they didn't take a page out of Melbourne's book and put the bike lane on the median strip its safer for both parties yes its more expensive but the pros greatly outweigh the cons

[@snowhabibi6928]

Or people on bikes can use the damn sidewalk that already exists , if there is a pedestrian on the path guess what, the biker can go on the grass, what a concept lmao. So hard for some peoppe to understand that this shouldnt be legal.

[@nzjustin8420]

Bike lanes are important and we should build them. Shame we can't design them safely it seems.

[@adriaantje113]

designing them is easy, implementing them is expensive, that's it...

[@snowhabibi6928]

I agree but also bikers should be using the sidewalk that already exists but they want to use the road and make excuses for blocking traffic and almost getting hit by a car. Sidewalks already exists. If there is a person walking on them , the person who is ON WHEELS can go into thr grass, bikes dont just stop when they get off pavement.

[@Lenevor]

@@snowhabibi6928 I think because its illegal?

[@snowhabibi6928]

@@Lenevor impeeding traffic is illegal, but people on bikes do it constantly.

[@anthonystrikcani3840]

You never stop making these videos Leo they’re too funny, especially the pool tracks that you did many years ago I loved those videos

[@Steph-xl3nq]

We’ve had these new bike lanes pop up in our community in California. I’m a driver. I’ve seen the same issue with cars not following the markings on the road making it unsafe for all. At the same time these strange configurations of green lanes just appear and it isn’t always clear what a driver should do. Common sense isn’t always used.

[@1471SirFrederickBanbury]

Same issue back here in Virginia. All these cycling lanes have been an exercise in how little effort can be put into something. A couple of lines were painted, the speed limit reduced by 10 mph (16.1 kph), and the bikes still ride mainly in the sidewalk, with pedestrians sprinkled throughout the bike lane and sometimes in the road! It seems that it is no longer about doing things right, but getting things done for cheap, before lunch.

[@ghostham1635]

I see them doing this a bit where I live. They take away a lane from a busy road to give it to bikes, and then traffic gets way worse for it. I was biking the other day and a new bike lane had appeared, but it ends abruptly in the middle of the road... luckily I had turned off before that point, but it's so strange to see how cities fumble their way through bike infrastructure.

[@georgemariatos-metaxas7780]

The idea of having a way to travel around town by bicycle, in my humble opinion, is a good one, the way that its done is absolutely stupid. I live in Patras Greece, the mayor of the town decided to "improve" the city centre by adding a bike lane on one of the main roads, a 3 lane road that always has lots of traffic, one lane is taken by parked cars and now one for bicycles. As you can possibly imagine, this has caused the road to have even more traffic, do go through the city centre used to take about 5 minutes (Patras is a small city) now it can take up to 30 minutes. The funny thing is that there are barely any cyclists so the pedestrians are the ones that actually use the lane.

[@wot2343]

I like how this video didn't take a purely pro bike or pro car look at the problem. I think if we are to invest in more multi modal transportation, it should be done will full effort and safety in mind. I also couldn't help but notice that some of the areas along the cycle lane don't even have sidewalks. It's baffling to me that this area that could certainly use them, has sparse sidewalk coverage from what i can see. Good video.

[@leokimvideo]

The more I look into the history of what's happened here it has a strong sniff of a political stunt linked back to one incident. It was rushed into operation without much real thought of the impact to the natural flow of traffic. If governments were really concerned about bike lanes there would be a dedicated bike lane between Hornsby to Berowra. It's very obvious to me going by recent new curb work they don't really care.

[@guringai]

I'm amazed at how many riders still don't have bright & flashing tail lights

[@RHTeebs]

I'd love to see a transport-oriented channel analyze this. Someone like Taitset, or something.

[@Steamenginesunited3456]

This was interesting compared to the cycle lanes in America. Especially in places like New York

[@aphexamine]

whatever happened to bike paths?

[@leokimvideo]

Where I live bike paths are born from whole vehicle lanes

[@Notabot1310]

A lot could be done with what is being taught at school, maybe road engineers are taught road infrastructure from the 60s.

[@RedSpecialArchive]

Leo - Ive seen your comment a lot on a lot of music related videos, and you seem to be very knowledgeable on older bands. Have you ever considered making music related content?

[@leokimvideo]

The core problem is copyright. I wouldn't even consider doing anything with music on KZbin because the content ID tools pick off the smallest riff in a song. Over the years on KZbin I have seen some incredible channels get taken out by copyright issues. Especially in the early days of content ID. These days it's more bent towards the music artist earling a dollar from your efforts. Maybe they have a point but there needs to be a middle ground. I know Rick Beato has spoken about this a lot and he's very well connected to the music industry.

[@HuberttheLMS8F8375]

The bike lane was a good idea on paper but it was poorly executed. I think the bike lane is a bit too wide compared to what i see around in Canada.

[@arisneta]

I live in an area that keeps bike lanes on a (wide) pedestrian focused median, far away from any cars, but in a situation like this i feel like keeping cyclists on the inner lane instead of the outer lane would be the better idea, since they can just go on the sidewalk if they are ever to need to go into a street, as on the other end, cars can't magically u-turn at the next stoplight and just drive on the sidewalk to avoid going over the bike lane ever.. just my thoughts tbh, i dont know about the practicality of it

[@tylerreed8648]

man i love all his videos been watching sense 2011

[@roboticrainbow]

In HK we basically don't have "bike lanes", bikes are expected to ride with traffic on the road and the rules beyond that are very limited. I used to ride a bicycle around the area I live in but now that I'm not longer in my 20's I have decided that I'd rather not die young because I've been flattened by a double decker😂. I wish I could give some actual contribution to the discussion beyond that, however I don't feel qualified on the topic. Thank goodness I can just rely on public transit here and never have to worry about navigating the confusing roads that make up this city!

[@XtremeTrainz]

I can't publicly state my honest feelings about TfNSW - but this is typical. If they wanted to do a cycle way, it should have been a totally seperate lane (with a barrier), these are bad for drivers and bad for cyclists for the reasons you have outlined. Epic fail

[@XtremeTrainz]

The lack of consistency with the lane is also a mess - I would never cycle here...

[@leokimvideo]

Google this query, $96,416 Committed to fix Berowra cycleway Safety

[@sr77400]

It's one of those things where it sounds like a great idea but it's really just a disaster waiting to happen

[@aJunctionMalfunctionProduction]

I don’t think people generally disagree with cyclists as another form of transportation in towns, cities and suburbs, but it seems to me there’s such a lack of uniformity and conformity in how they’re done, which is almost impossible to solve with every town, city or suburb being designed differently. Hence why Motorists get so frustrated with the cyclists and vice versa. But as for this video, I noticed there was a lot of green grass and room for widening the road OR adding a sidewalk. I believe a road, as is, with a nature strip of trees, bushes, and perhaps a fence, with a widened sidewalk, would be ideal in the suburbs were there’s room to expand such as shown in this video. But that would be a lot of construction, money & resources, and most town, village or local councils wouldn’t want to spend that much money. But if bike lanes are making a come back, and the way for the future, then perhaps more permanent infrastructure needs to be put in place. I much prefer driving on roads, were its not just painted, but it has those little patches of concrete & nature that helps to divide up the roads and the road traffic for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.

[@harrisonallen651]

I wouldn’t want to be cycling around Sydney

[@lukara6156]

You could have them but some cyclists choose not to use them. There’s one on a good stretch of Windsor road in my area and I’ve never seen a cyclist use it they still use it and there’s no dedicated bike lane for them so they are endangering themselves using the road

[@anthonystrikcani3840]

Same here

[@peanutsfanxy]

First

[@matthewchen3678]

Honestly, I'm thinking a simpler solution would just be to extend the footpaths to accomodate bikes. To be frank,I can kinda get around why they built the bike lane in the first place. More of an encouragement to people go biking and give people to travel by bike. It also gives them a seperate road to drive on safe from those walking on the footpath, and also helps those who can't afford a car to travel. However this is at an expense of the drivers. As you showed in your footage, because drivers have to give bikers the time of day to ride in their lane, that means they have to take hard lefts in order to turn without intruding too heavily on the bike lane. Again, I cannot imagine if someone's racing up at something like 70-80, and then have to brake suddenly because drivers are forced to take hard lefts, and I can already see a possible accident on this. And also take into account the bikers. While probably unlikely, there is a chance where at a corner turn, a biker will just be minding their own business, when WHAM, there's a car that has to take a hard left or right or whatever just to get into the corner. That's an accident hazard, and should be addressed quickly. And there's also congestion. Everyone will be coming home from whether school or work, and it's near dinner, like 4-5. We all know the congestion that happens, especially not the motorways. Long lines of cars going off into the horizon. These take a while to get through, and to avoid massive confusion and delay and to allow other drivers to get to their own exits, drivers will have to line up on exits just to get out of the road. The bike lane, will be an excellent place for drivers to just line up, meaning no one can get on the bike lane. As I said before, it would probably be wiser to simply extend the width of the footpaths to accomodate bikes. I'd say a solution for the bike lane for now is if you're going to keep it, please build a fence around it, or some sort of protection around the lane. And put some signs like Stop look both ways. Also considering at corners where cars will have to make sharp turns, make something like a crossing, or some sort of alarm system to warn bikers of cars that will make sharp turns, you never know which one it is. Or maybe just make another lane, for cars to go through, and bikers can wait by(kinda like railroad crossings).

[@Zeyek1]

first

[@Thenicesunset1]

Hey will you ever remake mad bomber

[@ajstransportawptv]

The whole design of the road is terrible. buildings are built on the road, yet the road is designed for high-speed traffic. We know vehicles travelling at high speed and pedestrians and cyclists do not mix. If we wanted people to ride bikes, the bike lane needs to be separate from general traffic. painting lines won't solve anything. but making the infrastructure appropriate will. I bet there aren't going to be many cyclists on the Pacific Highway because its clearly a place designed for cars. High-speed roadways should not have buildings alongside them. I also think that the buses should get bike racks fitted. Over in Regional Victoria, many operators that run local town buses are in the process of getting their fleets fitted with bike racks, including over in Wodonga. A road designed like this is hostile to people who are not in a vehicle like a car.

[@goaway9977]

All the sections of the Pacific Highway that travel through built up areas are 60km/h or lower. That is a perfectly safe speed for these wide arterial roads in built up areas. It's no different than Parramatta Rd, Old Canterbury Rd, New South Head Rd or many other arterial roads that travel through far more dense urban areas. Navigating these roads as car or pedestrian is easy and safe. As a cyclist it is not so easy which is why there should be bike paths built where there is room, as there is on much of the pacific highway. And yes on sections of the pacific highway where speed limits are 80kmh then bike paths need should be built with seperation from the vehcile traffic. But those all the areas featured in this video were 60kmh zones.

[@ev3rst0rm]

I'm willing to bet they consulted everyone except cyclists before making this addition to the road

[@gst-1015]

Where I come from its even worse we don’t even have bike lanes and the cyclists cycle with the cars…dangerously! Hence the reason they need a supporter car back and front for their safety Few years back a car basically rammed one of the cyclists in road which sadly killed him

[@PlushworksInc.]

make more toy reviews

[@Hyxth]

The risks associated with the idea of giving cyclists a lane alongside cars, I feel, are a massive safety hazard and disrupt the global norm of cars on the road and cyclists on the sidewalk. The idea is really cool, but I believe it needs to be executed differently. Perhaps extending the sidewalk and dedicating a portion of it to cyclists would be appropriate, but that comes with its own hurdles. The costs of doing so would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in concrete, and the city is unlikely to allocate that much money to cyclist paths.

[@yayuksugiarti771]

Me

[@tweetytye]

Poor bikers are gonna get hit 😮

[@snowhabibi6928]

As an american seeing these bike lanes on the road looks so stupid to me.yall are just asking to be hit.

[@edclarke2839]

Shit bike line

[@hitachifansandmore]

being realistic here there has never been enough cyclists on the road to warrant a bike lane just the government once again spending millions of dollars to fix a problem that doesn't even exist

[@bakingsoda3823]

Just ban road bikes 😭😭🙏🙏🙏

[@peanutsfanxy]

First