Last updated 26 May 2020
- Town Centre end/start of ride facilities – secure cage for bikes immediately adjacent to Light Rail stop as part of a genuine commuting hub
- Improve infrastructure between Mixed Use West precinct (high rise residential towers) and Town Centre proper; better separation and amenity
- Improved access to/around Mitchell
- Provide separated bike path along Barton Highway between Federal Highway and Ellenborough St
- Improve bike path crossing of Gungahlin Drive between Wells Station Dr and Sandford St (two crossings of Gungahlin Dr are needed for those joining the Gungahlin Dr bike path from East)
- Include bike path, ideally separated, along proposed upgrade to Morisset St
- Construct a direct path between Horse Park Drive to corner Anthill St and Federal Highway to avoid the hill into Majura valley, making North Canberra/Civic more accessible from Northern Gungahlin.
- Develop an MTB park in Gungahlin region at a scale similar to Majura Pines, Bruce Ridge, etc. Perhaps through plantation Eucalypts in North adjacent to Centennial Trail.
Firstly, I think there is s strong need for a MTB park in the Gungahlin region. I am a teacher at Gungahlin College and there are many students who would like to ride MTB trails but do not have the ability to travel to other riding locations. I think a good location would be Percival hill / Blacksmiths shop. Trails would ideally be built by a contractor and have a maintenance schedule for major works with minor works be undertake by a community group. Similar to the Bruce Ridge management strategy.
Secondly The Yerrabi ponds Dirt jumps is now abandoned by the BMX riders due to difficulty in maintenance, vandalism, and inexperienced users. Advance BMX jumps are fragile and not suited to high use or use by individual with the proper understanding of how to ride them, this does not cater to a broad group of riders which I needed to maintain and develop a community around the site. The jumps were initially built for advanced riders. My suggestion is to change the focus of this location to be a bike skills area with similar aims to successful community assist such as the mob skills and pump track at mt storm high. Yerrabi ponds has an exisiting pump track area but needs rebuilding due to poor design and lack of compaction before over use and under maintenance. This was because the site was not funded for the building of the jumps but this was left to the community group who lacked the ability to create an area that was sufficiently ‘hardened’ for the use it received. pump tracks are able to cater for all abilities and a well designed pump track should be enjoyable for all riders from kids to advanced adult riders. In the remaining space I propose a number of circuits there have increasing difficulty but must all be ‘rollable’ meaning the rider is able to complete the circuit with both wheels on the ground at all times and this not lead to a degradation in the quality of the track. Traditional BMX circuits are designed in this way, advanced rider can get air over a jump and a beginner rider can roll over the same feature. Additionally at the Yerrabi pond dirt jumps the soil is not suitable for making jumps as it has a too high clay content and becomes overly hard when dry and sticky when wet. More sand content is needed to ensure the jumps drain and do not become damaged when being ridden in damp or wet conditions as is currently the case. Happy to provide more thoughts on these projects. I would also like to see involvement of the GNGC and other local high schools to ensure that these are seen a whole Community asset leading to less vandalism and increased social responsibility of the community.
This is a great idea and one that’s come up in the GCC’s informal cycling group – https://gcc.asn.au/cycling-infrastructure-working-group/ – and the list of projects we came up with – https://gcc.asn.au/gungahlin-cycling-infrastructure-requirements-projects/ – this includes a MTB path. We’ll be in touch directly!