South Perth Rouleurs

Ride Routes 18th – 24th July

The Botanical Gardens and Parks Authority (BGPA) looks after both Kings Park and Bold Park and is currently shaping their 20 year Master Plan. A Master Plan sets the direction for the future and will assist in any decisions that are made and any changes that are suggested. Both parks will always be focussed on their biodiversity and cultural history, but they do acknowledge the role they play as a location where cyclists ride and train.

The “Place Understanding Report” which is used to inform the Master Plan references cycling in Kings Park as –
“Cycling is a popular activity within the park, serving both commuters and recreational riders. The park has also seen a significant rise in road cycling participation since hosting the AusCycling Road National Championships in 2025”
https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-04/BGPA_Place%20Understanding%20Report.pdf

Before going on to recognise –
“Speeding cars and informal parking poses risks to cyclist safety…”

The upgrade of the road surface and removal of speed humps that us as cyclist have enjoyed over the past couple of years may also be under scrutiny as they state –
“The current road widths and smooth surface conditions facilitate speeding which poses a significant risk to pedestrians and cyclists.”

And –
“Speeding is most prevalent on May Drive, with 68% of vehicles exceeding the speed limit near Rio Tinto Naturescape and 61% near May Drive Parkland. On Fraser Avenue, approximately two in five vehicles travel over the speed limit in the absence of traffic calming interventions.
The issue is further exacerbated by the design of the roads, which feature generous, smooth lanes with minimal traffic calming measures, encouraging higher speeds.”

There is also some good data around the times of days that vehicles enter the park from the five different entry points. It is clear that down the bottom end of the park (Poole and Park Ave’s) the traffic peaks at 8am and 5pm on weekdays which is consistent with vehicle commuter traffic using the park as a cut through.

As you can see, they seem to be making a case for installing traffic calming devices for our own safety. This is the first issue for us.

The second part is around the usage for cyclists as a training location and what we might like to see in the future. What would a safe cycle training location look like to us as opposed to what it may look like to some bureaucrat that doesn’t understand what we do.

There are four stages to this Master Plan development.
1. Discovering
2. Listening
3. Interpreting
4. Resolving

The first stage developed the report as linked above and now they are ready to listen. This involves a survey to gather community feedback.
https://engage.bgpa.wa.gov.au/shape-the-future/have-your-say

Again, being a park that focusses on conservation and biodiversity, many of the tick boxes relate to these issues, but they have acknowledged that active recreation areas are an important part to who uses Kings Park. There are a couple of freeform text boxes that allow you to put in your views. This is that place that we need to be specific about what we need and why Kings Park should continue to be a location for us to train.

Some suggestions for feedback might be -
Instead of traffic calming devices an alternative could be to restrict traffic at certain times to stop the rat race cut through. Mention that speed humps and slow points are actually more dangerous for cyclists. The central location allows many cyclists access to safer training rather than being pushed further out of town.

Kings Park has always been central to the cycling community in Perth, from Boxing Day Pappa’s, ATTA Birds in the Park or just to have a spin close to home. This is an opportunity for us to raise our voice and let government know that we want to continue to use it, so please take the time to give them feedback.

https://southperthrouleurs.com.au/2026/07/16/ride-routes-18th-24th-july-3/