It’s time to ask how many more cycleways do we need in Byron Shire? Those we already have are little used.
Large sums of money are being spent on cycleways for the benefit of a very small sector of the community. At the same time, roads used by the vast majority of residents of the Shire are in an appalling condition.
A casual survey of traffic on Ewingsdale Road between the highway and Byron township will reveal an alarming state of affairs.
Drive along this road and count the cars and the bicycles that you see. I’ve done it: the total number of cars on this road in daytime usually runs to between 80 and 100. Bicycles on the recently extended cycleway usually total anything from zero to about five.
It’s my understanding, from a reliable source within Council, that the funds used to build cycleways are siphoned off from state and federal funding for roads. If true, this is an appalling indictment of Council and betrays an attitude of contempt for the majority of the people who pay rates in Byron Shire.
In an ideal world we would have both roads and cycle paths. We don’t live in such a world. We live in a place where our cars are hammered every time we venture onto the roads. Weaving around potholes has become a way of life in this Shire. Life in Byron Shire could and should be so much better than it is.
Ian Evans
Mullumbimby
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
