DEAR News Of The Area,

ELECTRIFICATION of transport will occur rapidly in the decades leading up to zero carbon emissions in 2050, but too little attention is being paid to such Personal Electric Vehicles (PEVs) as electric bikes, scooters, skateboards and mobility four-wheels.

I am pleased that the highway upgrade has made some provision for cyclists that currently extends from Woolgoolga to Sapphire, and on to Charlesworth Bay Road when the Bypass is built. Excellent combined bike and pedestrian facilities also extend south from the Englands Road roundabout to Bruce King Drive at Boambee.

Coffs Harbour City is covered by its 2014 Bike Plan, but much work needs to be done. Moreover, there is a missing link that currently extends from the southern end of Solitary Island Way to the Big Banana.

Bruxner Park Road is popular with cyclists because of its progressive gentle gradient arising, as it does, from a former rail line.

The Luke Bowen footbridge is a useful crossing of the highway that will be moved and restored by the Bypass Project, but more use could be made of the underpass of the present highway at Pacific Bay Resort.

Apart from planning the routes and building the infrastructure, much work needs to be done to regulate the safe and efficient use of facilities by pedestrians and PEVs.

Coffs Harbour, as an eco-destination, could grab back its ranking as Australia’s number one.

We might even begin to catch up with some places in the world where similar plans are already well advanced.

Regards,
Max BRINSMEAD,
Coffs Harbour.