Corangamite Bicycle Strategy 2006 – 2011

This Bicycle Strategy has been prepared with the overall aim of making on-road cycling safer and more convenient within the townsites of the Corangamite Shire. It identifies hazards, barriers and obstacles to cycling, and proposes the means by which these can be eliminated. It is anticipated that, when implemented, the upgraded on-road cycling network will result in an increase in the number of local trips by bicycle and greater safety for cyclists passing through the towns. It is also expected that ‘new’ cyclists will be attracted to the use of a bicycle for short trips within the townsites.
This strategy deals almost exclusively with on-road cycling – and encompasses a number of techniques for improving the roads to make them safer and more convenient places to ride a bicycle. It is not a pathways plan, nor is it a trails plan. Recreational cycling throughout the shire has been the subject of the Trails Development Plan prepared for the Corangamite Shire in May 2003. The on-road bicycle facility improvements recommended within this bicycle strategy complement those recreational trails set out in the trails plan. In particular, the Trails Development Plan sets out a number of possible trails or path connections between towns.
In a traditional ‘bike plan’, an examination would be made of the 4 “E’s” and the ways in which these combine to increase the use of bicycles:
^aEURc Engineering – physical improvements to create a safer cycling environment; ^aEURc Education – programs designed to improve the road sense and behaviour of cyclists and to improve motorist behaviour towards cyclists; ^aEURc Enforcement – programs directed at both cyclists and other road users to create a safer integration of motor vehicles and cyclists; and ^aEURc Encouragement – programs to create greater community awareness of cyclists’ needs and stimulate greater use of bicycles.
This bicycle strategy focuses on Engineering (or infrastructure) improvements only. It does not purport to encompass the other “E’s” traditionally found in bike plans: Encouragement, Enforcement and Education strategies. It is understood that the Corangamite Shire will initiate follow-up action to encompass these other “E’s”. Bicycles are widely recognised as the quickest and most efficient mode of transport over short distances in urban areas and in country towns. Bicycles are widely regarded as one of the solutions to reducing traffic congestion and car parking problems. Cycling also
provides health benefits. There is substantial evidence that regular aerobic exercise such as cycling is beneficial to general physical and psychological health. In this age when much media attention is on the sedentary lifestyles many people live, and th e growing obesity levels of our children, cycling to school and other local destinations can help achieve satisfactory amounts of exercise. A study released during the course of the study found that 78% of men and 67% of women in the Corangamite Shire residents are overweight or obese. The study by the Warrnambool-based Greater Green Triangle University Department of Rural Health called for urgent action, as physical activity levels throughout the Corangamite Shire were low. The direct and indirect cost to the community of one heart attack is $400,000 – saving a few people from this fate provides an economic reward for society.
The focus then of this strategy is to make cycling safer and more convenient for the residents of the towns of the Corangamite Shire (enabling cycling to become the preferred choice of travel mode within the towns) and for visitors (including cycle tourists).