A blunder of urban planning resulted in a bike path disappearing from the map without the ACT Government noticing. The off-road bike path bypassing Mitchell on the Flemington Road was bulldozed to widen Flemington Road for the light rail. The ACT Government forgot to replace it and, after complaints, pledged to rebuild it.
The Flemington Road was a popular route to the city from Gungahlin because it was flat and fast. After the removal of the bike path, this was less so. The path between EPIC and Well Station Road along the Flemington Road is slowly being rebuilt. It has got as far as the Lysaght Street intersection but there is still about a kilometre to go to Well Station Road, where it will join other bike paths. Currently, there is no path of any type on either side of Flemington Road past Mitchell. The light rail stops are either side of Mitchell, and it can be a long walk to the next stop if you work in Mitchell. The good news is that now something is finally happening.
The first stage between Randwick Road and Morisett Road is complete. The second and longer stage between Morisett Road and Well Station Drive is still under construction and it has currently progressed to Lysaght Street.
The asphalt layer for bike paths is 50mm. You may find that to be rather thin and you are right. It is only suitable to carry bikes. Driving a truck on it will destroy it.
“This path will be the first section constructed of the Flemington Road principal cycle route, identified in the Moving Canberra 2019-2045 Integrated Transport Strategy as key to connecting the City to Gungahlin via Dickson.”
Flemington Road shared path, ACT Government, accessed 24/4/2020
The funding was promised by ACT Labor at the time of the 2019 Federal Election.
“The joint funding will also go towards the construction of the shared path along Flemington Road between Randwick Road and Morisset Road, Mitchell to fix the gap in the walking and cycling network between the EPIC light rail stop and Mitchell.”
Government pledge $5.8 million to continue bike and footpath upgrades, The Riot ACT, 12 May 2019
