Woods Weller Bikeway

The Wood-Weller Street Bicycle Route is a key north-south route in the Unley area that links the City of Mitcham to the south at Cross Road, Charles Walk / Glen Osmond Trail to the east and Mike Turtur Bikeway to the north. The bicycle route has been delivered in stages, with the Wood Street section being delivered in 2017 and the Weller Street section between Mitchell and Albert Street being delivered in July 2020.

The bicycle route has been designed to be a low speed (< 40 km/h) and low trafficked (< 1,500 vehicles per day (vpd) ) environment to support a mixed traffic arrangement where less confident bike riders would feel comfortable to ride. This has been achieved through the installation of slow points including a raised hump, bicycle bypass and landscaped islands, as well as pedestrian and bicycle improvements at intersections.

Funding has been allocated in the 2021/22 Annual Business Plan & Budget to deliver the section of bicycle route along Weller Street (north of Albert Street) and Simpson Parade. State Government funding has also been received through the State Bicycle Fund to deliver this project. Construction is planned to commence in early 2022.

A key objective in the Unley Integrated Transport Strategy  is that Unley is recognised as a leader in providing connected, efficient and safe active transport choices. 

To achieve this objective, our targets include:

• Doubling the amount of active transport journeys to work by Unley residents (target of 9.4% walking and 7.4% cycling).
• Recording the highest number (percentage of population) of sustainable transport journeys undertaken by our local community, when compared to the rest of metropolitan Adelaide.

To achieve these objectives we are delivering the cycling network and projects in the Walking and Cycling Plan, including the Wood-Weller Bikeway.

The Walking and Cycling Plan goal is to get more people bike riding and walking for transport and recreation purposes for people of all ages and abilities.

Slow points are local area traffic management devices aimed at reducing rat-running and lowering vehicle speeds on residential streets to improve conditions for the local community and encourage more people to walk and bike ride. The slow points include a bicycle bypass to improve accessibility for bike riders, as well as landscaping to improve public amenity.

A project review was undertaken on the Weller Street section of the bicycle route between Mitchell Street and Albert Street in March-April 2021, 6 to 8 months post construction to provide adequate time for people to adjust to the new environment. The review document can be found here(PDF, 3MB) . 

The key findings from the project review include:

• The use of the bicycle route is high with over 200 daily bike riders.
• The bicycle bypasses within the slow points have worked well with bike riders observed to use them 93% of the time.
• The average daily traffic volumes and vehicle speeds along the street have reduced to generally below 1,500 vpd and 40 km/h respectively, which is appropriate for a mixed ‘low-traffic’ bike route.
• Parking occupancy along the street is low with an average occupancy of 20% and maximum occupancy of 27% (notwithstanding the loss of 24 on-street parks associated with the project).

A number of minor actions will be implemented resulting from the Project Review, which will be undertaken in 2021/22 FY, including:

1. Repaint the retro-reflective white paint on the slow point raised humps and concrete islands.
2. Relocate sharrows (advisory bicycle pavement symbols) along the street in accordance with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s operational instruction.
3. Install bicycle symbols in the bicycle bypasses to reinforce Wood and Weller streets as a bicycle route.
4. Continue traffic monitoring of Hardy Street.
5. Review on-street parking between Lanor Avenue and the slow point (western side) to improve sight lines and access for people bike riding northbound.
6. Review way-finding to Wood-Weller Bikeway at King William Road to create greater awareness of the bicycle route.