Mann Street Cycleway

The Mann Street Cycleway is a physically separated pathway extending from Mann Street in Westcourt to Minnie Street in Parramatta Park near the Cairns city centre. The cycleway provides a safer alternative route to the busy Mulgrave Road. It links with the Lily Creek pathway and other existing on-road bike lanes along Mulgrave Road.

This cycleway was identified as a high priority for delivery under the Active Transport Investment Program as it is on the Cairns Principal Cycle Network. Construction of the protected path was completed in May 2017 and included 3 small bridges over drains and creeks and 9 intersections where bicycle riders have priority over cars.

View fullscreen map through external site Bike citizens | Download a Map published by Cairns Regional Council 

Routes are suggested only. You are responsible for your own safety while using Queensland’s bikeway network. The Department accepts no responsibility for any incorrect or out of date data presented.

Benefits

The Mann Street bicycle path provides safety benefits for bike riders and pedestrians who no longer have to interact with motorists on Mann Street or Mulgrave Road. It is attracting more women and children from the local community to ride their bikes. Research has shown that only 38% of bike riders in Queensland are female and that the main barrier to women riding is perceived safety.¹ Physically separated bicycle paths enable more women will feel safe to ride a bike.

Before and after construction of the Mann St Cycleway at one of the 9 priority intersections

 

Image credit: Cairns Regional Council

A survey of path users undertaken in May 2018 showed more people using the pathway than the on-road bicycle lanes in Mulgrave Road.²

The key findings were:

• 17% of people using the pathway were female, compared to only 10% of female riders on Mulgrave Road.
• 21% of riders on the pathway were children, compared with 9% of children using Mulgrave Road.
• 78% of riders on Mulgrave Road were adult male, compared to 63% of riders on the path.

A survey of 52 people using the pathway revealed that 30 were riding bikes and the remainder were walking. A third of the bike riders and 60% of pedestrians indicated they were using the pathway for fitness or recreation. The remainder of survey respondents were mainly commuting to or from work.

The path has enticed more people to choose active transport, with around 10% of those surveyed reporting they would have used a car before the cycleway was in place. Further, survey respondents were asked how they would have travelled if not using a bike and around half of transport riders would have walked and another 21% would have taken a bus.

The pathway has also successfully attracted some riders from Mulgrave Road, with 42% of transport riders and 20% of recreational riders surveyed diverting from Mulgrave Road to use the separated pathway.

According to an independent evaluation, the Mann Street Cycleway is estimated to be returning $1.10 in economic benefit to the local community for every dollar spent. The benefit is mainly related to safety given the risks associated with bike riders mixing with motor vehicles along Mulgrave Road in varying speeds and volumes.²

Benefits to the health of the local community are provided with a significant proportion of those surveyed indicating they had increased the amount of walking and riding they had been doing prior to the construction of the pathway. An increase in bike riding was reported by 53% of those riding for transport and 89% of recreational riders.

More information

For more information, please contact the Cycling and Programs team by emailing Cycling_Infrastructure_Program@tmr.qld.gov.au.

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^{1 The State of Queensland. 2017. Queensland State of Cycling Report 2017. Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Retrieved from: https://cabinet.qld.gov.au/documents/2017/Jul/Cycling/Attachments/Report.pdf
2 CDM Research. 2018. Evaluation of the Mann Street Cycleway. Report prepared for Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Available on our Infrastructure benefit evaluations page.}