Picking a good route to work

I thought I'd share the route I take when I'm riding to work as an example of how to not think like a car driver when choosing a route that is safe and enjoyable to ride. It isn't perfect but it is the best I've come up with so far. If you have suggestions on how to improve it let me know.

I used to ride through the Southern park lands and down Greenhill Rd but was not happy with the speed and safety. The park lands are slow and Greenhill Rd, particularly in the morning, is dangerous. There are too many cars blindly crossing the bike lane in a rush to get onto or off Greenhill. So here is my current route. Let me explain.

The first choice is easy. Old Norton Summit Rd or New Norton Summit Rd for the descent? The New road every time! It is longer but has far less traffic. It is also great to pass all the roadies coming up the hill on their morning rides. The ride back up is a great way to unwind from work and clear my head before I get home. Depending on the time of day and the weather the views can be stunning. I particularly like riding up here at night or when it is completely fogged in.

At the bottom of New Norton Summit Rd I turn right onto Magill and continue downhill. The bicycle lane down Magill is so rough it is akin to a donkey track but at the time I ride there isn't much traffic and the bike lane works for me.

The diversion I take to avoid the Magill/Glynburn intersection is the result of being squeezed too many times where Glynburn goes from two lanes to one 40m South of the intersection. Orient and Lincoln avoid this and bring me back onto Glynburn just shy of the top of Beulah Rd and are usually car free.

Beulah Rd is a well used cycle route into the city. It can see a bit of traffic but is usually fairly quiet because (I assume) of all the roundabouts. It also has the benefit of a dedicated cycle crossing on Portrush Rd.

Once across Portrush I turn left onto George St and ride the bike lane all the way to the end. It is a wide road that is normally quiet but crossing Kensington Rd can be interesting. Patience is normally rewarded with a safe crossing but you need to be quick.

Turning right onto Grant Ave rewards me with another bike lane and priority crossing at the lights on Fullarton Rd followed by the choice of two new paths across the racecourse. The most dangerous obstacles here are dogs and errant walkers but normally there are no issues as there are lots of bikes that cross here so the walkers are expecting us.

From there it is straight onto Halifax/Sturt for more bike lane riding all the way to West Tce. Riding behind the angle parking on Halifax isn't the best. You have to keep your eyes out for reversing lights. Crossing Pulteney and King William you need to look out for cars turning left at the lights. Getting out in front of the cars at the red lights ensures you are ahead of the cars in a rush to turn left.

I go straight across Whitmore Sq. I'm still amazed at how the cyclist hand rails on the Square are on the wrong sides. If I need to stop here I naturally drift across to the right hand side to use the hand rails so I can stay clipped into my pedals. If someone is coming the other way I'm on the wrong side.

At the end of Sturt you have priority lights to go straight across and onto the bike path that goes down the side of Anzac Hwy. A careful shortcut across the pedestrian bridge over the railway takes me onto Richmond Rd and with a minor amount of riding on the footpath I'm at work. After a hard day at work I just reverse and repeat with the one modification of going all the way to the end of Lincoln and turning left onto Mahar St. This lets me back onto Magill further away from the Magill/Glynburn intersection giving me a longer line of sight on the traffic in both directions on Magill.

This route is the result of trying a quite a few options and using the bikeDirect maps to seek out bike lanes and quiet streets. Over time I've made minor modifications and improvements but as I said at the start it still isn't perfect.

Tags: commute, quiet, route, safe

3 members like this

Comment by Richard Stevens on June 23, 2012 at 22:30: I'm jealous that you have norton on your daily commute!! :) My only change in the route would be to turn left at Penfolds road at the bottom of Nortons and then go down the Parade...turn right at Pembroke and hookup to Beulah Rd there. The top part of the Parade is fairly new and beautiful to ride down. A mate nearly came a cropper going down Magill rd when he hit a pot hole and temporarily lost grip of the handlebars and ended up steering with his elbows...don't know how he got away with that!!

:)

Comment by Katie Hannan on June 24, 2012 at 1:04: Wow. What a journey. How far? How often?

Comment by Luke on June 24, 2012 at 9:19: Richard - I'll try your idea of going down The Parade. The one thing that worries me is the roundabout at the top of The Parade. I go through there when I'm dropping my son at school and I've seen cyclists getting a hard time by the cars travelling along Penfolds. The traffic cues up there so it seems to be difficult to take the lane. At the time I ride it should be a lot easier.

Katie - 20km each way and as often as I can do it depending on work and home priorities. Normally two times a week or three times on a good week. I'll be aiming for four or five as soon as my wife stops travelling every week for work.

Comment by Peter Hill on June 24, 2012 at 12:25: Nice work Luke. I'd agree with Richard that the top end of the Parade might be a better option than Magill, though having said that I don't think I've been along it in peak hour, so stick with it if you think its safer. In the morning, particularly in spring and Autumn you'll have the sun behind you and the risks of glare-blinded drivers coming out of side streets onto Magill (or Parade). Beulah road is good, and I like to use that one too, Same with Grant and how it leads onto Halifax, then Sturt and the bike path along Anzac.

There is a bike shop on Halifax and a bike lane, but when I cycle along it for my commute home (heading west) there is NO awareness of cyclists between Pulteney and King William Street. Take care, enjoy your rides.

Comment by Richard Stevens on June 24, 2012 at 12:55: Yeah I've never ridden Penfolds during peak time either so def go with what feels safer.

Comment by Luke on June 24, 2012 at 13:22: The top end of Beulah above Gurrs Rd is rough as well so that is another reason to try The Parade.

Comment by Michael Colsey on June 26, 2012 at 2:11: Hi Luke. It's good to see you sharing wisdom about road and path choices. I started commuting using bike paths and back roads but found it inconvenient and hard work with all the starting and stopping, poor condition of paths and regular punctures from thorns on a roadbike. So I fairly quickly moved to using main roads with bike lanes. But, the more run ins I have with cars and having been hit and see it happen, I now am always working at minimising the risk while maintaining a practical route.

Taking the lane, particularly coming up to round abouts and trying to be seen is really important, but isn't always safe to do. How do you guys and gals negotiate and balance between being seen, having a safe amount of space and copping abuse from drivers?

Comment by Luke on June 26, 2012 at 22:08: Michael - Those thorns wouldn't be on the path around the back of the velodrome would they? After puncturing there too many times I too moved to riding on main roads. I still can't believe that is used to ride up Port Wakefield and down Salisbury Highway to get to Edinburgh but I used to do a lot of crazy things when I was younger that I don't do now. Drafting trucks and buses anyone?

Peter - I've ridden to work on Mon and Tue and ridden both ways on The Parade each time. While I like the surface I'm having second thoughts. The roundabout at the top of The Parade isn't a happy place for me. Even at just after 7am there is a constant stream of cars going South on Penfold. Getting in amongst them to take the lane is a challenge due to the speed differential. Coming home the traffic is all going the other way making the left turn down the hill interesting and getting over to the middle of the road to turn right in the dark makes the nerves start to twitch. Next time I ride I'll go back to Magill and see how it compares.

Comment by Luke on July 11, 2012 at 16:58: I just plugged my commute into the new Google Maps Cycling and got an interesting route that I won't be taking. Every service like this that I've seen always uses Old Norton Summit Rd which is a dangerous option in my opinion. The good thing about Google Maps is that it is an easy way to see all the bicycle routes along your commute making selection of an alternative to the one displayed easy to assess.

Picking a good route to work

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