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New cycleways on the way for Inner West

Residents of Sydney’s Inner West will soon enjoy three new cycleways and paths as part of state government funding to revitalize open spaces along the Parramatta Road corridor.

The $20 million fund comes from the NSW Government’s Parramatta Road Urban Amenity Improvement Program and includes the creation of three new active travel links, as well as a new park, improved public spaces and additional bike parking.

The three cycleways that have received funding include:  

  • a new dedicated cycleway along Dot Lane between Norton Street, Balmain Road and through to Hay Street in Leichhardt.
  • A shared path along Johnstons Creek from Wigram Road to Chest Street in Annandale
  • a dedicated cycle path at Pyrmont Bridge Road between Mallet Street and Paramatta Road.

In a press release, Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes said the funding will help Inner West Council deliver 10 projects across Annandale, Leichhardt and Petersham.

“The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the vital role our public spaces and the green links that connect them play in bolstering both our wellbeing and our local businesses,” Mr Stokes said.

“We will continue to support councils to deliver attractive, usable public spaces for their communities to enjoy now and once this crisis is behind us.”

With the growth in the number of people riding bikes during the coronavirus pandemic, Bicycle Network has been calling on state and local governments to rapidly build cycleways to ease the load on busy bike paths.

Not only will new construction projects keep people in jobs, new separated cycleways and paths will help maintain the growth in cycling and make it easier for more people to actively move around their communities once the pandemic is over.

Other council areas could also see bike infrastructure built with help from the Federal Government stimulus package to fast-track ‘shovel-ready’ transport projects.

This favours active transport projects which are typically quick to get started and are often of a scale that can be implemented in a short period of time. Many councils also have bike plans with specific locations designed or mapped out.

Bicycle Network is encouraging members to reach out to their local councils to turn a negative into a positive and recommend that they make use of this rarely offered Commonwealth cash to get some much need bike infrastructure build.

Image: https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/News/2020/Better-public-spaces-on-the-way-for-inner-west