‘It’s dangerous’: Choke-point sparks appeal for cycle ramp at Harbour Bridge’s southern end

2 months ago 6

The opening of a $39 million cycle ramp at the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge has sparked calls from Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore for the NSW government to finish the job by building one at the southern end where a choke-point causes safety concerns.

North Sydney Council mayor Zoe Baker joined Moore in calling for the government to inject funding into a new southern ramp for the bridge, as well as complete “missing links” in a cycleway on West Street on the lower north shore.

Transport for NSW is forecasting a doubling in the number of cyclists crossing the Harbour Bridge following the opening on Tuesday of a 170-metre-long bike ramp at the northern end. Last year, 1221 cyclists a day on average rode across the famed Coathanger.

Cyclists try out the new 170-metre-long ramp at the northern end of the Harbour Bridge for the first time on Tuesday.

Moore said a southern ramp was “absolutely critical” because parents whose children attended Fort Street Public School, which had doubled its roll, were concerned about the danger posed by the convergence of cyclists, vehicles and pedestrians into a narrow road and then a shared path in Millers Point.

“It’s dangerous for young and old. Having more children in that school, having all the extra riders coming across the bridge we really need that ramp on the southern side of the bridge,” he said.

She cited the slow progress since a funding announcement more than nine years ago from the-then Coalition roads minister Duncan Gay for an upgrade to the southern ramp and the new one at the northern end to be completed by 2020.

Cyclists and pedestrians have to share a narrow bridge over the Cahill Expressway’s “corkscrew” ramp.

“It was clearly logical to do the two ramps simultaneously. And whenever we open a bike project, there’s always the next one to do. So the next one to do here is a southern ramp,” she said.

Asked about her remarks, Transport Minister John Graham said the government was committed to working with councils on plans to expand the cycle network.

“This project [at the bridge’s northern end] has been a long time coming, but one of the good things is ... we’ve got the design right,” he said.

“We want to do the same as we’re planning these additional extensions. Those things take time.”

City of Sydney cycling strategy manager Fiona Campbell said the council had been told there was no funding for the southern ramp despite money in 2016 for it from the-then Coalition government.

The first cyclists ride over the new 170-metre-long ramp on Tuesday, shortly after a ribbon cutting.

“We have been asking and asking,” she said. “We get complaints not only from parents and people walking, but we get complaints from people riding.”

Detailed planning is also underway for the next stage of a controversial cycleway along Oxford Street, which would run from Taylor Square in Darlinghurst to Centennial Park via Paddington.

Graham said the first leg at the western end of Oxford Street had quickly become the city’s most popular cycleway since it opened last year, and the government was committed to the work to extend it to Centennial Park.

“That’s an important extension, particularly given how popular this first leg has been,” he said.

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