Gerrit Hendrik Schorel-Hlavka

Party: INDEPENDENT

I live in city/suburb: Viewbank

My commitment: My wife and I purchased new pushbikes and obviously the relevant gear but we failed to check out the bike facilities before doing so. Having grown up in The Netherlands and used to bicycle lanes in most area’s I am astounded that we have in the city bicycle paths that are going for a distance, disappear and then may reappear somewhere else. Surely, if the Dutch experiences can be translated to us then we should make bike riding a safe issue. Regretfully with my wife being partly blind and this year completing 8 decades she needs to have the comfort of secure bicycle lanes and not which are between parked car and moving traffic that on both sides danger can exist. If my wife and I as adults cannot feel safe then how on earth can we expect children to be safe? I view that we need to reconsider bicycle lanes to be adjacent to footpaths and not somewhere between parked cars and moving traffic such as for example is in east Melbourne. Footpaths that are more wider than required can be made smaller to provide for a separate bicycle lanes, so there is no problem with pedestrians. A clear example is for example Bourgundy Street, Heidelberg where the footpath is usually blocked partly by shop displays and why not instead turn this are into bicycle paths? Some streets may be too small for providing bicycle paths unless it is turned into a one way street, and that ought to be considered also as a solution. As for our new bikes, my wife and I decided to wait until it is safer to ride around. As such, I am eager to get things organised so we can finally have a safe environment for all concerned.

Details on this website: http://www.schorel-hlavka.com/ (opens a new window)

Current sitting member: no