Author: Bob Moore

Shelved Lilyfield Rd Cycleway project reported to Council watchdog

The Mayor, Darcy Byrne, has reported the shelved* cycleway project to the independent Council watchdog, to investigate if there was a proper oversight of the project by Leichhardt Council from 2015-2016, when it was in the hands of the Administrator prior to the recent amalgamations with Marrickville and Ashfield Councils. Around $500,000 was spent on the project.

The project was announced by Transport for NSW as part of its Regional Cycleway Network in late 2015 and more or less dumped on Leichhardt Council to do the tendering and supervision. Council selected GTA Woodhead as consultants to do the design. The first concept design ran into opposition from residents on the grounds of loss of parking, and cyclists on the grounds of narrowness of the cycleway and steepness of the route A revision, which took about 12 months to do, also met opposition, largely due to it requiring one way restrictions on parts of Lilyfield RD. Residents and cycling groups complained about the method of consultation and slowness of responses. The mayor announced the project would be “shelved” and “not proceed to detailed design stage” in early 2018.

A public meeting was held in May 2018 and it was decided to do a review of the project and produce a new design.

*At time of writing Council was  about to call for tenders for a new consultant to do a review and work on a new plan for a cycleway, with some alternative routes, as suggested by IWBC, and options to be considered.

At the same time Council has decided to seek talks with Transport for NSW about construction of the City West Cycle link, a tunnel or half tunnel under Lilyfield in or near the railway corridor. The CWCL would provide a flat route from Hawthorne canal to the Rozelle Goods Yard, with easy connection to White bay and Anzac bridge. If built it would largely replace the need for a Regional Cycleway on Lilyfield Rd.

UPDATE, June 2019: 

In May 2019 Council appointed Complete Urban (completeurban.com.au) to do a report on the shelved Lilyfield Rd cycleway project and come up with some new suggestions. IWBC met with Nathan Parish from Complete Urban and  Council officers in June. Stephen Joannidis is the Council officer in charge of the new project. Further meetings and consultations are scheduled.  Community management of the project will be important, considering the opposition to many aspects of the shelved plan.

Council has implemented a ban on trailers and heavy vehicles along the railway side of Lilyfield Rd. Cars can park there but lengthy sections are empty, and we continue to call for a ban on all parking to allow space for a wide high quality bike path or lanes.

Also affecting the project is the Rozelle Interchange (stage 3 of Westconnex) which will create a parkland on the adjacent Goods Yard east of the Light Rail stabling sheds. If a path through the new park (from about Justin St) is built to connect to Anzac Bridge the eastern section of Lilyfield Rd will be bypassed. The footbridge at Victoria Rd is to be demolished as part of a widening of Victoria Rd, so an alternative is needed in any case.

Big Bike Day Sunday 23 September

All three bike groups, plus Dulwich Hill BC, will be at the Inner West Council Big Bike Day in War Memorial Park, Catherine and Moore Sts, Lilyfield on Sunday.
bigbikeday So come down and have a chat about cycling at our stall.

Also on is Tour de Balmain, a ride put on by Bike Leichhardt, starting 830 am from bar Italia in Norton St, Leichhardt, riding around the Balmain Peninsular taking in historic sites and harbour parks, and ending at the Big Bike day around 1130 am in time for a free lunch.

Inner West Council Bicycle Working Group- BWG

After lobbying by IWBC during the recent Council elections the Council, through a motion by Cr Drury and other supportive Councillors, agreed to set up a Bicycle Working Group, to take the place of the Bicycle Advisory Committee on the old Leichhardt Council. It isn’t a Council Committee, that is it won’t report directly to Councillors at Council Meetings, but minutes will be taken and available to Councillors through a bi-monthly “Local Democracy” report. The Working group is open to anyone to attend, and relevant staff will provide reports and answer questions.

Terms of reference

“The Group is constituted as a Working Group and not a Committee of
Council, minutes of each meeting will not be presented to a Council
Meeting for formal adoption. Rather updates from Working Groups would be
provided to Council as part of a bi-monthly Local Democracy report.

The Group can request Councillors to bring matters before Council by way of
Councillor Notice of Motion process.

Working Group participants can request agenda items at meetings or through the
Group Manager Roads,Traffic & Stormwater.”

The first meeting was held on June 16,2018.
Reports were given on the status of bicycle projects including
LR03- Livingstone Rd
LR07 – St Peters Station to Tempe Station
LR16 – Addison Rd
LR18 – Dulwich Hill Station to Marrickville Station
RR02 – Parramatta Rd to Marrickville Park
RR07 – Longport St, Petersham to King St, Newtown
and Lilyfield Road cycleway
by Manager of Transport Infrastructure Predrag Gulelj, and an overview of transport planning and the aims of Council to promote Active Transport (walking, cycling, public transport) was given by Ken Welsh, Senior Transport Planner, worth a read, along with the Integrated transport Strategy 2016 for the former Leichhardt Council.

A worrying aspect of the amalgamation is the need for the new council to develop new Transport Plans, tying together plans from the three former councils. This will take 2 to 3 years (see Ken’s timeline in his presentation) and they said the new Inner West Bike Plan will have to wait until that is done. I am hoping it can be done in conjunction or some other means found to keep projects coming through for implementation. Ashfield Council never had a bike plan so one is urgently needed so that RMS will provide funding- a necessary condition.

Ken Welsh- presentation on Strategic Planning Context

Predrag Gulej- Projects Update -21.6.18

Minutes are available from the Council Working group web site link.

Have your say on the Greenway Missing Links

IWCouncil now says construction of the missing links, such as the underpasses of Parramatta Rd, Longport St and Old Canterbury Road, will start in late 2018. They are seeking comment on a Master Plan at www.yoursayinnerwest.com.au. This will go to Council for approval in mid 2018. Seems a time wasting process, since design work has been going on now for about a year since the funding was announced. WHy not just get on and build it?

More at www.greenway.org.au, though sometimes it isn’t very uptodate.

Inner West Council elections

Results of the elections on 24 September are that Darcy Byrne (Labor) has the mayoralty, after doing a deal with the Liberals and the independent Victor Macri. Labor won 5 seats and the Liberals 2. The Greens also won 5 seats but could only rely on two independents, John Stamolis and Jennie Lockie (Nowestconnex).

Labor promised during the campaign that there would be a $10 m “bike fund” for projects over the next three years, in addition to funding to complete the Greenway. The Greens promised $40 m for “active transport”. The Liberals were silent.

IWBC is calling for a quick resumption of bicycle planning and construction, with adequate staff to do the work. There is a fear that another round of reorganization and change may ensue as the new Council sorts itself out, leading to delays in getting vital bicycle infrastructure designed and built. Specialist bike planners are needed and we hope Council can build on the expertise already apparent amongst current staff.

We are also calling for a reconstitution of a Bicycle Advisory Committee, where residents can have a say on bicycle projects and programs. We hope a progressive will be appointed to chair the Traffic Committee and that a cycling representative will be appointed.