A Canberra cycling group is advocating for 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limits in the suburbs to improve safety on ACT roads.
In its submission ahead of the ACT budget, Pedal Power ACT made a number of recommendations to improve the city's amenity for bike riders.
The group has said their primary goal is to improve Canberra's cycle paths by introducing more of them and extending those that already exist.
But they also raised the idea of lowering speed limits, a move they said had been implemented in European cities with positive results with regard to safety.
In its submission, Pedal Power ACT wrote about the benefits of "low traffic neighbourhoods", arguing they reduced "rat running", where drivers avoided clogged arterial roads in favour of trying to cut through suburban streets.
"[Low traffic neighbourhoods] work successfully in England by slowing streets to 30kph, using physical barriers like planter boxes and filtering measures to prioritise people walking and on bikes, making car use more difficult but still possible," they said.
Slower traffic, safer suburbs
Pedal Power ACT executive director Simon Copland said the recommendation to lower speed limits on suburban streets was based on World Health Organisation recommendations.
"I do understand that it is a strong recommendation, but it is one that is being implemented in countries around the world – particularly in Europe – and it's one based on World Health Organisation recommendations," he said.
"The reason we recommend this is that the evidence is really clear that when you reduce speeds to this level in suburban streets … it reduces the impact of any crash that people may have with pedestrians or cyclists."
He said as well as reducing the severity of crash injuries, evidence also showed the slower driving speeds had a "very, very low" impact on people's travel times.
"When you take into account the need to stop and turn corners and such, people actually drive at this speed already," he said.
"It's not actually a major change, but it has a real potential benefit for people when collisions unfortunately do happen."
Despite this, Mr Copland said he di not anticipate the government would adopt – or even seriously consider – the recommendation.
"What we're trying to do is put out what we think are the best recommendations available, and the long-term goals that we think we should be trying to achieve in the ACT, and this is one of those," he said.
But Mr Copland said lowering speed limits on suburban streets was just one of their recommendations.
"It's actually not a core focus of our submission, the core focus of our submission is on cycling infrastructure," he said.
"It's about building separate cycle lanes so we can get cyclists off the roads – particularly those big arterial roads – because cyclists don't want to be on those roads either."
Cycling infrastructure 'more important'
ACT Attorney General Shane Rattenbury said people were "very polarised in their views" when it came to slower speed limit recommendations, and this case was unlikely to be any different.
"I think it's fair to reflect that every time there's a discussion about cycling infrastructure or speed limits or any of these things, it does invoke high levels of feedback," he said.
"Let's just all be kind to each other on the roads, make space for everybody.
"[But] we need to make it easier for people to not just drive, but to get around town other ways."
Mr Rattenbury said improving cycling infrastructure was the "more important" recommended change, and should be the focus.
"The key feedback we get from people is they want to be separated from traffic," he said.
"People feel nervous being closer to traffic and want to see more separated cycle lanes – whether that's physically separated on the edge of the road, or completely not on the road.
"If you look around the city, we need to really invest in our footpaths, in better lighting. These are all the things that will make cycling – and walking for that matter – safer and easier for people in the city."
