The City of Sydney voted on Monday night to keep the temporary cycleway along Moore Park Road – next to Allianz Stadium – until May 2026,despite some Paddington residents and sporting bodies
The pop-up cycleway on Moore Park Road in Paddington.Dean Sewell
The eventual removal of the in the coming years hinges on the completion by the state government of the permanent Oxford Street east bike path between Taylor Square and Centennial Park.
City of Sydney chief operating officer Kim Woodbury told councillors on Monday that staff had provided Transport for NSW “high-level work” on the Oxford Street east cycleway so that “we could actually push the project along”.
“Unfortunately,it probably hasn’t progressed as far as we had hoped,” he said.
The City of Sydney is responsible for building a connecting cycleway at the western end of Oxford Street between Hyde Park and Taylor Square,as well as part of Liverpool Street.
It had originally planned to build a of the well-known strip by June 2021 but later scotched that proposal in favour of a separated bike path along the northern side of the street,construction of which was
The City of Sydney is building the cycleway along Oxford Street between Taylor Square and Hyde Park.City of Sydney
However,the council’s latest timeline is for construction of the Oxford Street west cycleway and footpath upgrades to start in October.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said Transport Minister Jo Haylen recently told her that she was committed to the Oxford Street cycleway,and would “do all she could to accelerate it”.
“So I hope that provides some comfort to residents of Moore Park Road,” she said. “I understand that a lot of people who live in Moore Park Road are still very upset about the cycleway.”
The pop-up bike path was under emergency COVID-19 powers,and led to the removal of 118 parking spaces. Residents have complained that the cyclepath reduces amenity,safety and access to homes from the street.
A spokesperson for Haylen said she had committed to reopening consultation for the proposed Oxford Street cycleway so that the process was run properly.
Independent councillor Yvonne Weldon,who voted against retaining the cycleway along Moore Park Road,said it was an embarrassment that the City of Sydney had consented to the pop-up bike path. “It’s only a matter of time before a serious accident occurs,” she said.
Labor councillor Linda Scott,who voted to retain the bike path for another three years,said it was in the public interest for the state government and council to work together to build a quality cycleway on Oxford Street.
“The community has waited years under the former Liberal government and this long overdue,critical piece of cycling infrastructure should be fast-tracked,” she said.
Transport for NSW said it was reopening consultation with the community,local businesses and councils about the proposed Oxford Street east cycleway,which would help it develop a concept design and final business case for the project.
It expects project plans and an environmental review will be released later this year,but declined to say when construction would start or what it would cost.
In March 2021,the then-Morrison government committed to funding half the cost of the Oxford Street east cycleway.
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