There is a bike path along the whole length of Horse Park Drive but unfortunately, it keeps switching sides of the dual lane carriageway. While there are lights where it is safe to cross, there is much time lost waiting at traffic lights and in what feels like crossing the road unnecessarily.
Underpasses are rare but it may be possible to accept a detour and connect these underpasses into one route. This route is not signposted, so most will follow the road or intersections. I do not find it surprising that the road designers missed this. There are plenty of other examples of bike paths with unnecessary road crossings in Canberra.
Rather than bypassing Casey, we rode through it. Plimsoll Drive has single lanes in each direction that are separated by a creek. The centre strip is so wide here that it has been turned into a nice garden with a bike path down the centre. Just watch out for the edges! The path stops and starts a bit, forcing the rider to go back on the footpath beside the road for a short distance before returning to the centre, but it is worth doing, particularly with the wattles in flower. Most suburbs in the north of Gungahlin have paths along the northern edge as a circuit around the suburb. Throsby is a good example of this. Unfortunately, there is no such path for Casey, so the choices are riding through the suburb or alongside Horse Park Drive.
Taylor is very pretty and still a building site. Land sales seem to have stalled. The blocks on sale seem to be untouched since Christmas. The road construction on the north edge has expanded dramatically and they seem to be making good headway. The suburb must be reaching the Canberra Centenary Trail alignment in some places. Presumably, they will add new access points to this trail as it is very popular with walkers and mountain bikers.
Returning through Nicholls is very difficult. Nicholls is built around a golf course but does not have any bike paths through it. The Perce Douglas Memorial Playing Fields are in the north and provide a useful shortcut from Casey to Nicholls between the two Gold Creeks Schools (primary and secondary). From here until the Gungahlin Pond bike path you have to ride through the suburb along Lexcan Avenue. Luckily, the roads are so windy that they are a nightmare to drive, so that few try, except locals. This makes it relatively safe for cyclists. If you want a route separate from the road than ride through a nice park via Tuban Place Neighbourhood Playground. Two paths junction here that follow approximately the north-south and east-west axis.
Again today I noticed how narrow the paths are alongside Ginninderra Drive at the two Lake Ginninderra crossing points (one bridge and one dam). The Lake Ginninderra lake circuit is very popular and people are often walking side-by-side, in groups, with children and/or with dogs. Many people still don’t know that we have shared paths in Canberra. Having said that, people are pretty good at making space and letting cyclists through but the path is far too narrow. It is very loud too due to the 80km/h traffic on Ginninderra Drive. You cannot hear yourself or the bell of approaching cyclists for that matter.
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