Thank you Mr Broadbent

Excerpt from Melbourne Miles by Max Lay (p44):

Some of the strongest voices against the deteriorating road systems came from the growing band of cyclists, who were quick to realise how much more useful their machines would be if there were good surfaces on which to ride them.  The story was repeated around the world. In Victoria, a leading campaigner was George Broadbent, who later became very active in the RACV. Broadbent formed a Good Roads Association in 1890  and a Cycle Pathways Association to act as organised protagonists for good roads and paths. In 1895, he produced Australia's first touring maps. Indeed, in 1896 Melbourne was said to be the cycling capital of the world. In the early 1900s, Broadbent became a leading advocate for the creation of the Country Roads Board. In 1912, Broadbent signalled the end of an era when he noted of the previous 60 years, "We have built expensive non-paying railways when good hard roads would have sufficed."