Notes.
Parramatta Road Urban Improvement- the latest in attempts to “revitalise” Parramatta Rd once Westconnex diverts motor traffic- assuming it does. A promise by the Westconnex project to return one traffic lane to Active Transport has so far not materialised- surprise!
Inner West Council Integrated Transport Plan recommends a bike path on Parramatta Rd on the south side of the road. Committee for Sydney also supported bike lanes.
GETS ( Guided Electric Trains) versus Buses or Trams. Trackless trams are flavour of the month, but not everyone is convinced. They are optically guided and dont need rails. They would leave the kerbside free for bike riders. Council favoured GETS. Govt favoured buses. Buses seem to have won.
Dot Lane Saga – history of attempts to develop an East West bike route (Route EW02 in the Leichhardt Bike Plan) between Flood St in the west and Pyrmont Bridge Rd in the east, via Jarrett and Albion St. Dot Lane runs between Balmain Rd and Norton St, but has a sometimes locked gate at one end, where businesses own the access. If Council could get access the east-west route would be possible. As at February 2021 no solution has appeared, but a shared path on Parramatta Rd between Balmain Rd and Norton St has been approved as a bypass.
Council got $21 million for an Active Transport and Urban Amenity Project along Parramatta Rd corridor. ( separate from the much larger Masterplan for development along the whole of Parramatta Rd). Various works have been approved, mainly on traffic calming on streets that intersect with Parramatta Rd, and including some bicycle works, such as a shared path between Balmain Rd and Norton and a contraflow lane on Renwick St. Bike lanes on Pyrmont Bridge Rd were also approved, and these are due to be built in late 2023.
IWBC has met a number of times to discuss the projects with Council and some of our ideas have been adopted. The missing items include a connection across Johnstons Ck Canal to Pyrmont Bridge Rd via McCarthy Lane and Cahill Lane not being pursued by Council at this stage, although they have said there will be a shared path on Parramatta Rd from Nelson St to Pyrmont Bridge Rd. A crossing of Johnston St at Albion St is needed for route EW02. This is a matter for Transport for NSW since Johnston St is a State Rd.
Death of delivery cyclist on Parramatta Rd in 2020.
The cyclist was hit by a truck near this spot and was one of five delivery riders killed in 2020 in Sydney. IWBC called for a shared path on Parramatta Rd between Crystal St and Railway St, on a dangerously narrow section. RMS rejected the idea, on grounds that shop signs hung down too low! Many cyclists do use the footpath here. It is fairly wide and foot traffic is low, due to shop closures. The other side of the road is now a shared path, between Balmain Rd and Norton St.