By Ian Stephenson, President, Bulletin 10/2022, December 2022

Manouevering around a garbage truck on Bridge Rd, October 2022 (Photo: 2GB)

Tyson Kinnane of Transport NSW arranged for some members of the Glebe Society Management Committee; Duncan Leys (Transport), Tamira Stevenson (Environment), Allan Hogan (Communications) and me, to meet with representatives of Transport NSW at Bridge Rd on 18 November to discuss the cycleway and get an update on proposed improvements. Tamira uses the cycleway, so it was good to have her input. The Transport NSW team included officers responsible for design and safety.

Transport NSW listened to our concerns, the key points of which are:

The cycleway is discontinuous. Over its 1.3 km length, it disappears in nine places forcing cyclists onto either the road or footpath. Excluding the shared cycle pedestrian path at the viaduct, the cycleway is non-existent for 845 metres. As shown in Table 1, there is no cycleway for 25% of the route heading east and 40% heading west.

Table 1    
Cycleway section, heading East   Length (metres)
Lyons Rd to Barr St no cycleway 35
196 Bridge Rd to Clare St cycleway  
Clare St to Woolley St no cycleway 86
Woolley St to 163 Bridge Rd cycleway  
163 Bridge Rd to Gottenham La no cycleway 204
Gottenham La to 21 Bridge Rd (Burton St) cycleway  
Subtotal (with no cycleway)    325
     
Cycleway section, heading West    
22 Bridge Rd to viaduct cycleway  
Viaduct to just before Railway Parade footpath 30
Just before Railway Pde to Talfourd St cycleway  
Talfourd St to opposite Rosebank St no cycleway 135
Opposite Rosebank St to Opposite Woolley St cycleway  
Opposite Woolley St to Hewitt Av no cycleway 50
Hewitt Ave to Jarocin Ave cycleway  
198 Bridge Rd (after Jarocin Ave) to 250 Bridge Rd no cycleway 200
250-280 Bridge Rd, just before Junction St cycleway  
280 Bridge Rd to 304 Bridge Rd no cycleway 100
304 Bridge Rd to Barr St cycleway  
Barr St to Lyons Rd no cycleway 35
Subtotal (with no cycleway)   550
Total length – no cycleway
   845

 

No parking is permitted along Bridge Rd. Table 2 below shows the distance between cross streets where residents might be able to find a park. The bolded streets are between Glebe Point Rd and Ross St. Residents here have particular difficulties because of the lack of back lanes and long distances between cross streets. The removal of all parking is particularly difficult for people with disabilities but also affects tradespersons, deliveries and removals.

Table 2        
Cycleway heading East  Length (metres)   Cycleway heading West Length (metres)
Lyons Rd to Cross St   168   Railway St to Gottenham St   211
Cross St to Foss St   114   Gottenham St to Talfourd St   59
Foss St to Ross St   100   Talfourd St to Glebe Pt Rd   63
Ross St to Clare St   223   Glebe Pt Rd to Jarocin Ave   340
Clare St to Woolley St   84   Jarocin Ave to Ross St   148 
Woolley St to Rosebank St   100   Ross St to Junction St   182
Rosebank St to Glebe Pt Rd   57   Junction St to Barr St   170
Glebe Point Rd to Talfourd St   62   Barr St to Lyons Rd   33
Talfourd St to Gottenham St   59      
Gottenham St to Burton St   245      
Figure 1. The Sydney Bike Network Map (detail) (Source: City of Sydney, tinyurl.com/589upd4x)

Planned Improvements

Transport NSW advised that the narrowing of the road for the pedestrian crossing at Woolley St is to be removed. This will allow the cycleway to be continuous heading east from Clare St to Woolley St (86 metres) and opposite Woolley St to Hewit Ave heading West (50 metres). This is an improvement. The cycleway will disappear in seven rather than nine places for a total length of about 700 metres.

The unsightly red paddles are to be replaced by a low kerb. Consideration is being given to the need for kerb crossings for users of prams, trolleys and wheelchairs.

We were advised that they were aware that the parking issues and regulation of parking are a Council of Sydney responsibility but a request would be made to Council to facilitate more car drop off and pickup and delivery zones in side streets.

Timing

The works to make the cycleway permanent will not commence until the current works to upgrade the power supply to the new fish market are completed. This is likely be after March 2023 at the earliest.

Other Options

The Management Committee is particularly concerned about the stretch of cycleway between Glebe Point Rd and Ross St because of safety for cyclists and amenity for residents. However, it must be noted that not all our members share this view. The Sydney Bike Network map (Figure 1) proposes a regional bike way branching off Bridge Rd at Gottenham St and going to Bay St. We asked if the feasibility had been explored of using the proposed Gottenham St branch to divert the cycleway along St Johns Rd and Junction St thereby eliminating the most problematic stretch?

Figure 2 The Bourke St Surry Hills cycleway (Image supplied)

Transport NSW advised that this had been explored but was not considered feasible because bikes would have to cross Bridge Rd and because the direct route was preferred. They agreed to send the Society the feasibility study. The Society recommended that there be improved signage to make motorists more aware of the places where the bike path merges with the traffic stream. It was agreed that this would be investigated.

The Society recommended that there be improved signage to make motorists more aware of the places where the bike path merges with the traffic stream. It was agreed that this would be investigated.

We have received some correspondence from members on this issue: one supporting the cycleway and requesting a more balanced view from the Society and another suggesting we look at the Bourke St, Surry Hills cycleway as an example of a better design. I welcome this feedback.