One year on: where is Canberra’s costed cycling-network plan?

In September 2025, the ACT Legislative Assembly called on the government to fully cost the future cycling links identified in the Active Travel Plan and publish an indicative construction timeline.

The government is due to report back during the final sitting week of September 2026.

This is an important moment for active-travel advocacy in Canberra. A good network map shows where the city wants to go. A delivery plan explains how, and when, we will get there.

Canberra has strong foundations for active travel, but gaps, inconsistent standards, missing links and ageing paths still limit safe and comfortable riding. Many individual projects appear on government maps or in early planning. Too few have a publicly stated cost, delivery stage and target completion year.

A separate government update in May acknowledged that there is no set funding allocation for delivering the Active Travel Plan. Projects are considered through the normal capital-assessment process, alongside other competing priorities.

This makes transparency even more important.

At Pedal Power’s advocates have described the ACT Budget’s active-travel funding as “slim pickings”. However, they identified several projects that could be progressed, including upgrades to the Gungahlin and Tuggeranong lake paths, quiet streets parallel to Northbourne Avenue, the Kingston and East Lake connections, and further planning for a Woden-to-Civic route.

The Woden-to-Civic project demonstrates the gap between a promising concept and funded construction.

Pedal Power advocates have examined a first stage between Commonwealth Avenue and the Kent Street area. It is a practical project that could be advanced independently of light rail Stage 2B. However, it still needs a completed business case, detailed construction drawings and committed funding.

The same pattern appears across Canberra: communities support the project, the strategic need is accepted and preliminary work may have begun, but the delivery date remains uncertain.

Pedal Power wants the September report to produce a useful public project register. For every future network link, it should show:

• the route and its role in the wider network;

• its current stage, from early investigation to construction;

• an indicative cost or cost range;

• the next decision required;

• dependencies on developments or larger road projects; and

• an indicative delivery year.

This would allow the community to distinguish a funded project from a line on a map. It would also make it easier to identify projects that are ready to proceed when federal active-transport funding becomes available.

Pedal Power’s aim is a continuous, safe and coherent off-road network, supported by safer intersections, priority crossings and low-speed neighbourhood connections. Achieving that will require sustained advocacy, funding and accountability.

Member input plays a critical role. You do not need to be a transport expert. Tell us what you notice on everyday trips: a missing connection, a difficult crossing, a path that ends without warning or a route that prevents your family from riding.

Advocacy works but lasting change comes from persistent, informed advocacy and a delivery plan against which progress can be measured.