Cyclists still feel unsafe in Ballarat's CBD and around Lake Wendouree, but new infrastructure near the Ballarat Link Road has been applauded in a new mapping project.
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The state-wide BikeSpot program encouraged cyclists and drivers to mark where they felt safe and unsafe on a map - more than 7100 spots were identified by almost 6000 participants.
The aim was to give government agencies, as well as road users, a clear picture of people's perceptions when they were cycling, or driving near cyclists, which could help inform infrastructure plans to make the road safer for everyone.
In Ballarat, more than 150 spots were marked, positive and negative.
The finished map shows risky areas like the Creswick Road and Doveton Street roundabout, the eastern end of Mair Street, and Main Road near York Street.
Opinions are mixed around Lake Wendouree - some people note there's no safe way to ride clockwise, and poor driver behaviour at roundabouts, while others praise the separated bike lanes.
The Amy Gillett Foundation is behind the initiative, and chief executive Dan Kneipp said the project, running for the first time across Victoria after successfully running in Melbourne in 2016, is a valuable snapshot of how road users perceive infrastructure.
The organisation was founded in honour of Amy Gillett, an Australian road cyclist killed on a training ride.
"If you look at the Ballarat spots, there's 100 unsafe and 33 safe spots, and two of the main unsafe areas that are coming forward are dangerous intersections and areas with no bike lanes," Mr Kneipp said.
"The areas where they are comfortable have separated bike lanes and not as much traffic - where there's poor infrastructure, that's where it's terrible for cyclists, and for drivers as well.
"Creating a proper lane is what makes it better for everyone - look at where BikeSpot and crash data align, what it shows is sometimes somewhere feels safe and you don't have many bad crashes happening there, but it's still a deterrent, and that will stop people using it.
"That's a reason someone might drive instead of cycle, and we're dealing with a lot of challenges about traffic (during the coronavirus pandemic) - there's plenty of people who can't cycle, but if the infrastructure's good, there's people who might have taken public transport that will cycle instead of drive."
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CrowdSpot provided the infrastructure for the interactive map - director Anthony Alsenberg said it would be useful to return to the data in future years to see how things change.
"Green spots validate what people want, that's what the safe spots do - it's also saying this is good, more of this please," he said.
"Across the entire project, it's about 90 per cent unsafe to 10 per cent safe spots."
The data will be provided to local government partners and the Department of Transport.
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