Bike riders and pedestrians in Sydney can celebrate the news that a new 91-kilometre shared-use path will connect Parramatta Park to Sydney’s waterfront.
The upcoming New South Wales state government budget will include an investment of $60 million to the continuous path, originally proposed by public policy think tank McKell Institute.
Some sections of the path will require developers to pay for development, while some sections are already in the works, such as the 5.5-kilometre section between Pyrmont and Balmain.
The McKell Institute plan set out several priority phases including revitalisting Blackwattle Bay and the Rozelle Bay area, a foreshore loop around Canada Bay, and connecting Canada Bay to the Homebush Bay Circuit.
The plan outlines key benefits of the project such as economic stimulation of the nearby area, improving community health and boosting tourism.
The shared pathway will “allow for walking and cycling trips to proliferate” according to the Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport Rob Stokes, highlighting the importance of making people’s lives “easier and healthier”.
The recently announced NSW budget features some spending on good projects, the spending on active transport corresponds to 0.2 per cent of the total per annum transport spend.
This is well below the recent WA budget active transport spending, which featured two per cent of the transport budget. Both are well below the UN recommended proportion of 20 per cent of total transport spending.
Recent announcements to improve the bike riding experience in Sydney include a new Sydney Harbour Bridge cycleway, which will undergo construction in 2023, and $65 million of state budget funding for a Sutherland to Cronulla Active Transport Link.
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