The NSW Government have announced that around 250 kilometres of strategic cycleway corridors will be built in the eastern parts of Sydney.
The Minister for Infrastructure Rob Stokes announced the plans on Thursday April 29, saying on Twitter: “the strategic cycling corridors blueprint for the Eastern Harbour City creates an integrated network from the Northern Beaches south to Sutherland and west to Strathfield.”
The newly unveiled strategic cycling corridors, also announced in The Sydney Morning Herald, are part of a long-term plan to build a well-connected bike network across Sydney, which Minister Stokes has dubbed “Sydney’s answer to London’s super cycleway”.
Five of the cycling corridors have been flagged by Transport for NSW as ’immediate opportunities’ that will fill important gaps in the network and thus will be prioritized. These comprise the following bike connections:
- between Sydney Airport and Sydney Park
- between Newtown and Green Square
- between the Bay Run and future Rozelle parklands
- between Milsons Point, North Sydney and St Leonards
- between St Leonards and Artamon
You can look at these proposed connections, as well as the draft plans for the remaining Strategic Cycling Corridors here.
We’ve released Sydney’s answer to London’s super cycleway. pic.twitter.com/g9sknrXtUE
— Rob Stokes MP (@RobStokesMP) April 28, 2022
Despite bike uptake being generally low across New South Wales, riding in Sydney has had exciting growth in recent years. The 2021 Walking and Cycling Participation Survey for New South Wales found that bike riding in the city had increased by as much as 10 per cent since 2017.
Trips on Sydney’s pop-up bike lanes has also been absolutely gangbusters in the past two years, including a five-fold increase in trips on the Pitt St separated pop-up lane. Unsurprisingly, several pop-up lanes, including Pitt Street, have since become permanent.
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