05 Jun 18 | By pp-admin | Advocacy, Infrastructure, Pedal Power
Pedal Power ACT today welcomes the 2018/2019 ACT budget, which provides a significant investment in active travel and cycling infrastructure.
“We are pleased that the ACT Government is investing increased revenue in active travel – this is an investment in the future health and liveability of our city,” said Mr Ross.
“The ACT Government has already announced its plan to build new cycle paths in town centres, including an extension to the Belconnen Bikeway, and a new separated path at Woden. There is also funding for work to improve linkages at Tuggeranong between the town centre and the lake, and a shared boardwalk around the Belconnen Arts Centre. New funding for a path at Heysen Drive, to connect Weston and Lyons will boost funds already announced.
“Funding for infrastructure will make it easier for people to get to and through the Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong town centres on bike and on foot. This is a key priority, and something that Pedal Power proposed in our budget submission and long advocated.
“Good quality active travel and cycle infrastructure is a key driver to getting more people active and improving the health of our city and our community. If you build safe separated paths that keep people on bikes away from cars, more people will cycle – it’s that simple. This is something that Pedal Power has been advocating for many years.
“We welcome an additional $2 million spending on age-friendly projects and path upgrades in the 2019/2020 budget, on top of an existing $1 million per year already committed, which will improve the overall path network.
“This funding is very welcome and makes up for lost ground and reverses the decline in active travel spending that we’ve seen over the past two years.
“We still don’t know what the annual spend will be on maintaining our ageing and degrading path network, as this is not recorded as a line item in the ACT budget. We recommended a boost of at least 3.5 million per year for the next four years, is needed to get to the $12 million per year required to maintain this valuable community asset.
“We’ll be looking at the budget papers in further detail, to better understand how it will impact on cycling in Canberra, said Mr Ross.