Killer roads prevent fossil fuel free mobility

"...Most transport funding goes towards building wider and longer roads “embedding car dependency” – which leads to more driving and ultimately more congestion."

"Thirty-five cyclists were killed on Australia’s roads last year, slightly down on the 10-year average of 38.5. About half of those were aged 40 to 64, and most were men, according to the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics show 14,796 bike riders were hospitalised in 2021-22."

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/sep/01/covid-cycling-boom-has-ended-with-just-one-third-of-australians-riding-in-2023
#Bellingen #NSW #roads #speed #CarDependency #infrastructure #GlenifferRoad #NorthBankRoad #cycling #walkability #climate #PublicHealth #mobility #MobilityDesign

On the Highway to Climate Hell
The world's infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists.
“We have entire cities and transportation hubs that were all built for climate that no longer exists...unprepared for the climate risks we face today."
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/11/climate-change-critical-infrastructure-heat-flood-energy-transportation-housing/

Recent road 'upgrades' in #Bellingen had logging and tourist supply chains in mind. All roads were extended with a lot of deforestation, heavy machinery using fossil fuels and cement. A climate and biodiversity disaster. Non provide for an infrastructure walking, cycling or e-mobility.

#Bellingen #roads #GlenifferRoad #NorthBankRoad #RosesRd #FossilFuel #logging #infrastructure #climate

Redesigning roads and intersections to put humans first – The Bellingen case

Bellingen just 'upgraded' Gleniffer Road (The $5.2M “gate way to the Promised Land”) and NorthBankRoad. Both put fossil fuel vehicles first and forgot emission free mobility for people.
But cyclists and foot traffic deserve the same direct routes that motorists have. Elsewhere they rethink transport planning to promote safer cycling and walking options. Another missed opportunity to put Bellingen on the map for pollution free country cruising.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-29/pushing-bikes-in-the-car-capital/102659800
#Bellingen #PromisedLand #traffic #GlenifferRoad #WaterfallWay #NorthBankRoad #Roads #RoadUpgrades #FossilFuel #Infrastructure #tourism #network #so50s #cars #addiction #Ebikes #cycling #CyclePaths #Climate

Killer roads

Where is the infrastructure where one does not have to be propelled by fossil fuel at high speed?
Each (new) road should have a shady and separated cycling and walking infrastructure factored in.
Wildlife crossings all along the way.

Australia’s road toll continues to rise with 37 additional people killed in 'accidents' compared to the previous 12 months, despite a nationwide target to halve road deaths by 2030.

“The rising road toll came despite a National Road Safety Action Plan target to halve deaths by 2030 and cut serious transport injuries by 30%. In 2023, Australia is unable to adequately quantify the extent of road trauma, or the effectiveness of interventions being deployed to reduce it.”

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/23/australias-road-toll-continues-to-rise-with-most-states-falling-behind-safety-goals

#FatalAccidents #RoadToll #RoadDeaths #RoadTrauma #IntegralAccident #speed #RoadSafety #VisionZero #failure #NorthBankRoad #so50s #NSW #climate #FossilFuel #mobility #carnage #infrastructure #risks #sacrifice

Mountain views at Northbank road
The little Bellinger Escarpment along Northbank Road is still growing and country roads mutate into highways.
#NorthBankRoad #Bellingen #roads #sprawl #FossilFuel

Not just #Bellingen, but elsewhere too:
"Nobody wants heavy vehicles rumbling up the middle of the main street..”

"The #MainStreet is a designated heavy transport corridor, has the most foot traffic and is a tourist icon. Many large trucks travelling through the main street...The trucks have got much bigger and much more numerous, but in addition to the #trucks there are a lot of commuters now from the new #developments”

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-21/independent-report-into-hahndorf-traffic-plan/102371360
#FootTraffic #FossilFuel #Traffic #Sprawl #NorthBankRoad #TourismTown #Congestion #Logjams #HydeStreet

Bellingen Update in two parts:
Part 2/2
The increased human encroachment on living beings 'out there' in the bush consitutes an existential threat. The vehicular disturbance of noise, light and vibrations from vehicles causes stress and alters their behaviour. Road noise and/or vibration is believed to disrupt communication in birds. Motor noise is audible over 200m penetrating the environment. Species adjacent to roads flee the area.
The fragmentation of their home or loss of habitat can put yet another species on the extinction list. Survivors have a bigger chance to get under someone's wheels as #roadkill.

The once closed canopy above some roads gave the koalas some connectivity. The new widening does not provide any canopy bridges. A good way to undo the NSW #koala strategy.

In #Bellingen town the many logging trucks and heavy machinery shooting through the blissful latte strip of #HydeSt. go unnoticed. The surrounding #forests with their inhabitants are perceived as mere material for economic #Exploitation. #Deforestation, #BiodiversityLoss, Extinctions and #Climate disruption are not yet on/at the level of the military dictatorships of the Amazon or Myanmar, but one has to keep up with the neighbours.

The Sisyphus 'highway to hell' is paving the way to go past the 1.5C threshold. 'Upgraded' roads speed up the destruction and extraction. A hotter, dryer climate will invite more mega #fires. It's the fast-track towards extinction.

#BellingenLogging #PanicLogging #River #care #NorthBankRoad #BellingenShireCouncil #NoFootpaths ##NoBikePaths #Mobility #Bushfires #GKNP #Biodiversity #Runoff #Platypus #BellingerRiverSnappingTurtle

The federal government is warned of millions of Australians at heightened risk of #climate #disasters due to homes being built on sprawling suburban fringes prone to #foods and #fires.
"So we're putting people into places at risk of fire and flood and we're not investing in the #infrastructure to get people out of those areas when there is an emergency. What was once a diverse abundant farmland is now turning into this barren landscape of houses, tarmac, asphalt and concrete”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-28/outer-suburbs-climate-change-resilience-federal-investment-calls/102273256 #Sprawl #Bellingen #NorthBankRoad

Earthmoving machines are making tabula rasa (scraped tablet) with the help of #FossilFuel. Another suburb will arise here. Few trees are still standing. The Frenchman's creek is running right through the construction site.
#NorthBankRoad & Cnr of Hydes Creek Road
#Bellingen #Sprawl #Suburbia #Congestion #Climate #Soil #Creek #Biodiversity

#Dust from landscraping on #NorthBank #Road settles on houses in North #Bellingen. The roar of the heavy #FossilFuel machinery is audible.
#NorthBankRoad #HydesCreekRoad #Pollution #Regulation #Sprawl on small #Roads

#Dust from landscraping on #NorthBank #Road settles on houses in North #Bellingen. The roar of the #FossilFuel machinery is audible.
#NorthBankRoad #HydesCreekRoad #pollution #regulation #sprawl on small #roads