Elected members ended four years of controversy by voting 8-3 on Monday night against a bikeway from West Terrace to Hutt Street up Franklin Street, into Gawler Place and onto Wakefield Street.Staff proposed the dog-leg design late last year as a compromise following threats by property owners on Flinders Street to sue the council if they lost street carparks.The Greek community, St Mary’s College and businesses on Franklin Street and Wakefield Street joined the Flinders Street property owners in complaining about losing carparks if the bikeway went ahead. They also expressed concern about the safety of their students and parishioners, especially elderly people attending regular church services, weddings and funerals. The Greek Orthodox Community of SA particularly was worried about people who regularly play bingo at a hall on the corner of Franklin Street and West Terrace. The meeting had to go temporarily behind closed doors to discuss legal advice which council administration received late on Tuesday afternoon.During an ensuing 70-minute debate, councillors criticised the amount of consultation between the council and stakeholders, some of whom were given less than three days to respond. Public feedback was sought about two options – a kerbside bike lane or one in the middle of the road.Elected members were asked to vote on the kerbside option, which would have seen 179 carparks removed, costing the council about $500,000 each year in lost income.Councillors Helen Donovan, Robert Sims and Phillip Martin supported its construction, while Alexander Hyde, Anne Moran, Simon Hou, Arman Abrahimzadeh, Franz Knoll, Greg Mackie, Mary Couros and Jessy Khera voted against.Lawyer Greg Griffin made a deputation on behalf of property owners, arguing their businesses would suffer financially if the bikeway went ahead.“This is just not a good project,” he said.“The construction period will just be an absolute horror.”Mr Griffin said numerous refurbishments had been undertaken on buildings on Flinders Street, bringing the area “very much to life”.“Now you want to bring this life to an end,” he said.“This is bad for business, bad for the city, bad for Flinders Street and bad for the financial position of the council.”Cr Hyde said property owners, schools and churches and business people had complained to him about the lack of consultation over the bikeway.“First and foremost has been concern about pedestrian safety,” he said.“Then there has been the consultation process.“I have had people telling me that they got a letter with one and a half days to respond.“Had we consulted properly and more meaningfully, this may have had a better chance of success.”Cr Moran said the council had a poor history of managing major capital works projects.“The council has made a muck of them,” she said.“They handle it appallingly. It is just a nightmare.“Now we have legal advice hitting us at the last minute and legal threats from businesses who, as far as I am concerned, was justified.”Cr Mackie said there had been 17 different decisions by the council about city bikeways over the “past three terms”.“It has been a dog’s breakfast,” he said.“It goes back to the way we consulted.”Cr Mackie said he was not “completely convinced” either of the two options put forward by staff were going to work.Cr Couros said she could see the problems which the council experienced with the Frome Road bikeway “repeating themselves”.“This is going to end up being a dog’s breakfast, not a dog leg,” she said.“We will end up having to rip it all up and start again.”Cr Donovan, who was the project’s key advocate, expressed her disappointment, saying the council had missed out on an opportunity to enable more cycling into the city.“You (other councillors) have been fixated on one street but you need to remember it is not one street, it is part of creating a network of integrated bike paths,” she said. The council’s decision means a $3 million State Government grant towards the bike lane must be returned to the Department for Infrastructure and Transport.Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said encouraging more cycling was a vital part of “integrated transport”.“We are a capital city and I find it incredible that, in 2021, we cannot deliver a separated bikeway,” she said. “Whether we do it now, or in five years, it is the way of the future.” AA Newsfeed Playlist



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