Sydney’s historic Oxford Street is one step closer to having its own cycleway after construction recently got under way on the west side of the project.
The City of Sydney’s Oxford St West project involves construction between Castlereagh Street in the city, all the way to the top of Oxford Street at Taylor Square.
The state government will then build the remainder of the project, Oxford St East, between Taylor Square and Paddington Gates.
Once complete, the nearly 1 kiloemtre cycleway will give thousands of daily riders a two-way link between the eastern suburbs and the city.
“Oxford Street is our most popular street for riding, but it also has the most reported bike crashes of any street in our area. This dedicated cycleway will give thousands of people confidence to safely get around on two wheels,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said recently.
The cycleway will run on the northern side of Oxford Street up to Taylor Square, with a separator kerb between cyclists and motorists.
There will also be restricted access to Oxford Street, including closing little Liverpool Street permanently to vehicles and restricting left-turn access from Oxford Street onto Palmer Street.
The project is jointly funded by the City of Sydney and the NSW government. The state government is providing $11.6 million as part of its Get NSW Active program.
Work on the western part of the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. During construction, Oxford Street will have two lanes in each direction for vehicle traffic.
Upon completion, the new lane configuration will include a two-way cycleway, three traffic lanes heading to Taylor Square and two lanes towards Elizabeth Street.
“This important project will also calm traffic, create a buffer that makes the footpath more pleasant and increase the number of people using the street, all of which will make Oxford Street an even more vibrant part of our city,” said Moore.
The project is not without its controversies. In particular, some people are opposed to the Oxford Street East part of the project.
A Transport NSW consultation last year found that 51 per cent of respondents opposed the project. Critics said that cutting Oxford Street in Paddington will impact traffic and businesses.
“Cutting Oxford Street from four lanes to two will be a major dislocation to the businesses along it and for drivers,” said Woollahra Mayor Richard Shields back in December.
“It’s one of two major arterial roads into the eastern suburbs from the city,”
An alternative proposal was floated by Sue Ritchie, founder of the Three Saints Square Project, which would see a cycleway go down Moore Park Road, where there are fewer shopfronts and intersections.
The proposal would have seen a revitalisation of Oxford Street in Paddington which would extend footpaths for al fresco dining, parking bays, and bus bays.
“The community is supportive of cyclists. A lot of the community are cyclists. But not this solution,” Ritchie told City Hub.
“We can have a solution on Moore Park Road and have a cultural solution for Oxford Street.”
However, Transport for NSW is still pushing forward with the east part of the project with strong support from the City of Sydney.
Gay Sydney News reporter