Clarence Valley Active Transport Strategy
We worked with this northern NSW council to prepare a blueprint to guide Council’s investment in walking and bike riding infrastructure, with a detailed set of interlinked, prioritised, and costed actions to build a comprehensive walking and bike riding network.
Clarence Valley Active Transport Strategy
More info about this project
More info about this projectLocation
Clarence Valley, Northern NSW
Budget
$130K
Commencement
2022
Completion
2024
Overview
We were commissioned by Clarence Valley Council to prepare their long term plan for growing walking and cycling levels. This Strategy serves as a blueprint to guide Council’s investment in walking and bike riding infrastructure, with a detailed set of interlinked, prioritised, and costed actions to build a comprehensive walking and bike riding network. Extensive community consultation, site visits, cycling propensity mapping and costings were provided to Council as part of this Strategy.
The Active Transport Strategy
We has developed this Active Transport Strategy for Council to grow the contribution walking and bike riding play in the community. The Strategy lays out Council’s commitment to creating more opportunities for people to choose walking and bike riding to get around their diverse townships and villages.
The Active Transport Strategy details Council’s plan to provide more sustainable transport options. It covers upgrades to infrastructure, such as footpaths, shared paths and bike lanes. The Strategy also provides guidance on policy changes, education and promotion activities intended to give more people the freedom to choose to walk and ride a bike.
A multi-stage process, involving various engagement activities, was used to develop the Active Transport Strategy. This included engagement with Councillors, direct conversations with locals and visitors, and online community engagement. Active transport experts conducted a technical assessment of barriers and opportunities for greater levels of active transport in the Clarence Valley.
A snapshot of key stages in the development of the Active Transport Strategy is shown in the chart below.
Engagement workshops
The development of the Active Transport Strategy included multiple engagement sessions. The image on the left is from the Councillor workshop conducted at the very beginning of the project. Councillors were asked to identify the key barriers that prevent people from choosing walking and cycling as a transport option and what needs to change to boost levels of active transport participation. Councillors were involved in the development of a vision, and this provided the central direction that informed the development of the Active Transport Strategy. The other elements of the Active Transport Strategy are captured in the image below.
Summary of major challenges and key actions
A summary of the major challenges and key actions for a more active transport friendly Clarence Valley is shown in the image below. This synthesis was developed via engagement with Councillors and the wider community, as well as physical site assessment of each township and village in the Clarence Valley.
Developing a safe cycling and walking network
A core element in this project was the creation of an active transport network that connects people to key destinations. The map below is an example of several township based networks that were endorsed by Council and intended to provide safe, convenient transport options. The map below illustrates the proposed cycling network for Grafton, the main township in the Clarence Valley.
Clarence Valley Active Transport Strategy