The NSW Government has granted $1.5 million in funding for the next stages of the Grand Pacific Walk, Wollongong’s major active transport project.
The funding, part of the Get NSW Active scheme, will be used to build a new section of path at Austinmer, approximately 15km north of the CBD. The path will connect with Little Austinmer Beach and Pinecourt Park.
When completed, the Grand Pacific Walk will a comprise a near-70km coastal pathway between Royal National Park in the north to Lake Illawarra in the south.
It is anticipated that it will generate up to $45.3 million for the local economy, with annual increases in tourism expenditure anywhere between $2.8 and $23.8 million.
The vision for the Grand Pacific Walk can be viewed here.
Other funding recently announced for Wollongong includes $350,000 for a new separated cycleway in the western suburbs, linking Gwynneville and Keiraville with the CBD. There is also $167,000 for a new footpath at Mount Ousley, which will run along the eastern side of Gaynor Avenue and link with the Wollongong TAFE.
The overall state funding for Wollongong tops $2 million.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery told the Illawarra Mercury: "We've got the plans at the bottom of the cupboard in terms of the unfolding of the continuing connections through the Grand Pacific Way... the idea being that we will just add more to that because we've got a lot of that planning work already done".
Wollongong is the latest city to be honoured as a UCI Bike City, a coveted award for cities and regions “which not only host major UCI cycling events but also invest in developing community cycling and related infrastructure and programmes”. There are only 19 cities across the globe that have been granted this label.