City of Wollongong, New South Wales, received recognition as a global city when it joined the ranks of Vancouver, Paris, Copenhagen, Glasgow and Bergen, following the announcement it had been awarded the UCI Bike City Label.
With the 2022 UCI Road World Cycling Championships coming to Wollongong in September next year, this is a timely announcement.
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body of cycling, relaunched the UCI Bike City Label in 2015.
It is an internationally recognised award supporting and acknowledging cities and regions that host major UCI cycling events and invest in developing community cycling-related infrastructure and programs.
This year, Wollongong joins the ranks of 18 cities and regions awarded a Bike City Label, making it the only city in Australia to receive the prestigious title.
Wollongong City Council General Manager, Greg Doyle, said, “The purpose of the UCI Bike City Label is to not only recognise the elite cycling cities of the world, but to award cities or regions that aspire to become cycling cities and have invested in an outstanding long-term cycling strategy.
“We have made no secret of our focus here in the City of Wollongong.
“We are committed to support cycling at all levels of ability, from elite competitions through to the use of bikes for leisure, fitness and transport.
“We have a vision of Wollongong becoming the place to ride and we’re working to deliver on that promise.’’
Lord Mayor, Gordon Bradbery AM, said, “This international recognition endorses Council’s vision and commitment to supporting the growth of cycling within the City, whether that be for fun, sport or transport.”
Council has begun to roll out the Wollongong Cycling Strategy 2030.
“As part of this Strategy we’re aiming to increase cycling participation across the City, expand our cycling network from approximately 130km to a total of nearly 215km and increase our community’s confidence
with riding.”
Early this year, Council began to roll out a new Pop-Up Pilot Cycling Routes program.
The project will test and evaluate changes to on-road parking, installation of temporary shared paths and additional traffic-calming measures that benefit both cyclists and pedestrians.
