Page 5186 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 18 November 2009
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improvements, especially as there are now international quantitative and qualitative techniques for measuring the walkability of urban areas?
MR STANHOPE: In the context of a qualitative assessment of the walkability of the city, Ms Hunter, I am afraid I am not aware what qualitative work has been done in terms of an official formal audit of streets within the ACT. In the context of streets with or without footpaths, the database maintained by TAMS, by Roads ACT, is amazingly complete. In the context of access to present footpaths there is a complete audit. I am guessing at one level here, but I would be surprised if on receipt of a request by anybody around a particular named street—did it have a footpath, on what side of the road was the footpath, what was the nature of the footpath?—that Roads ACT could answer the question immediately.
In that context, in terms of the database which is maintained, Roads ACT—I am sure members are aware of this—maintains a priority listing. There is a qualitative assessment to that extent, Ms Hunter, in that Roads ACT has assessed on a priority basis—and I do not have the criteria with me—the retrofitting or the construction of footpaths in all of the streets on its database in relation to which a request has been made for a footpath. I do not think the prioritising extends to streets where there is not a footpath in relation to which a request has not been made. For those streets which do not have footpaths, where a request has been made by a resident of that street for a footpath, there is a database which lists in priority order—and there are some hundreds of streets in priority order.
MS PORTER: I have a supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Minister, can you outline how the findings of this review will build on the ACT’s strong record in cycling and walking?
MR STANHOPE: Thank you, Ms Porter. The answer to the question, of course, is very dependent on the outcome of the community consultation and the views of representative organisations—the views of those representing cyclists and the views of those representing walkers or pedestrians—and indeed other issues of some concern to the government; in other words, resourcing, cost, do-ability, implications for traffic flow or public transport or all other means or modes of transport. So at this stage the government are consulting, but we have engaged on a very significant investment in recent years in both footpath maintenance and upgrade and a very significant increase or enhancement in bicycle or cycle infrastructure.
I do acknowledge the strong interest of the Greens party, in relation, most particularly, to that binding agreement that we have with the Greens, our partners, to pursue issues of mutual interest, one of which is cycling infrastructure. We are as a government investing in cycling infrastructure to a level and a degree which no other government has ever done. The investment in this year, this term and over the term of this government will set significant records in terms of investment in cycling infrastructure. There is a level of investment in cycling in this territory that has never, ever before been anywhere near approached. I think it is a great achievement that the
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