M2 Bicycle Lane

The proposed alternative route added an extra 30 minutes onto the journey and was so hard to ride that many daily cycling commuters would be forced back into their cars – negating any possible benefits of the extra traffic lane.  The operators of the M2, Transurban, proposed this route without any consultation with the cyclists who use the road. 

Under the terms of contract the multinational Transurban is responsible for providing an alternative route for cyclists, however the company explicitly stated in their REF that no upgrades to the route would be needed despite that the proposed alternative route passed along a range of unsafe, high traffic roads and footpaths. 
 
This is yet another example of bad transport planning from a government that is obsessed with motorways at the expense of sustainable transport.  Further, adding a third lane on the M2 may even back-fire and create traffic chaos. There is now no breakdown lane and the speed limit may need to be reduced due to the dangerously narrow lanes.

On 27 January 2007, Lee joined cyclists and the community group Bike North in a peaceful ride along the M2 to protest against the closure.  However cyclists were pushed off this section of the M2 on March 21 and are now forced to make a detour. 

Although woefully inferior to the M2 the route is a vast improvement on what was proposed by Transurban to begin with. Bike North worked hard to negotiate changes and upgrades to the detour route, however unfortunately Transurban managed to shirk its contractual responsibility to pay for the upgrades onto the RTA.  It is unacceptable that the company to profit from a third lane on the M2 can then make the public pay for what we have lost.  This debacle further highlights the problems associated with public-private partnerships.