Campaign Ramps Up on the South Side of the Bridge

The concept design developed by Roads and Maritime Services in 2017. The removal of the Sydney Harbour Bridge tollgates freed up road space for a separated cycleway alongside Observatory Hill
(Image: Transport for NSW)

The concept plan.  A series of sections showing how the cycleway sits alongside the motorway can be found in Appendix A of the REF, pages 28-36 (Image: Transport for NSW)

In 2020, Fort Street Public School closed for a major redevelopment. Many people in the community assumed that the cycleway was being built behind the fences.  

Schools Infrastructure NSW did apparently fight hard to incorporate the cycleway into the project. But NSW Government kicked the can down the road, claiming that it was too complicated and expensive to build the ramp. 

In the end, construction had to proceed with no ramp. This was a major missed opportunity. It would have been so much easier to construct the cycleway while the road and school were closed.

The current situation

The newly renovated Fort Street Public School opened on the first day of Term 1 2024. The campus is designed for 550 students, more than double the previous enrolment, to cater for a growing local population. 

The shared path that has emerged from the hoardings is probably worse than the situation in place before the redevelopment. Prior to 2020, there was continual conflict between school students, parents and commuting cyclists.

Most families arrive to school on foot from the south. They must share the steep ramp and narrow bridge with oncoming commuting cyclists. This is dangerous for pedestrians and stressful for those navigating the area on two wheels.

The shared path between Kent Street and the school is extremely busy with children, parents and bike riders during the morning commute. The narrow bridge over the Cahill spiral (top right) has always been a pinch point. It is very substandard for a shared user path.  The steep ramp down to Kent Street (bottom left) is another infamous and non-compliant element of the route. It is fantastic to see many children and parents riding to the school - thanks to the Kent St cycleway that serves the main residential area of the catchment up near Haymarket. But this adds yet more bikes to a congested mix (Images: Bicycle NSW).

Bike riders also share a narrow section of Upper Fort Street between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the school with two-way vehicle traffic queuing to enter and leave the drop-off zone in the school playground (Yes, you read that correctly. The car access provided for the school is a planning failure is worthy of its own blog post!) 

The design of Upper Fort Street was improved following the advocacy efforts of Bicycle NSW and City of Sydney. But the result is an absurd compromise. And it relies on unlikely behaviours - like no children getting out of cars until in the official drop off zone, all cyclists moving very slowly through the area and no parents doing U-turns. 

The narrow road approaching the school often has cars queuing to enter the drop-off zone inside the school. Bike riders trying to get past to access the share path to Kent Street must dodge cars coming the other way. And yet – to the left are several unused service lanes on the edge of the motorway that could be allocated to active transport (Image: Bicycle NSW)

It is unfair to prioritise car drivers over children and commuters using sustainable modes of transport

The cost of a safe separated cycleway and a compliant ramp down to Kent Street is minuscule compared with the vast and ongoing investment in major road projects on both sides of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

There is already so much space allocated to cars while the safety of children walking to school has been negligently neglected. 

This great video from Bicycle NSW friend and Sydney Harbour Bridge commuter Ed Forrester clearly expresses the injustice at Fort Street.

Children have resorted to making their own signs to remind everyone to move carefully through the congested and narrow shared paths around Fort Street Public School (Image: Bicycle NSW)

Ten months after the school reopened, Schools Infrastructure NSW is still wasting public money on traffic controllers for hours every week.

But this is not viable for much longer, and the problems will get worse once the ramp at the northern end is complete, bringing many more bike riders through the area.

There is some good news

The school access road, fencing and gates were designed to be easily reconfigured to accommodate the future cycleway. 

The architectural plans for the ground floor clearly show how the future cycleway was considered by the architects. Phase 1 (as delivered), left, and Phase 2 (hopefully soon!), right. (Image: Schools Infrastructure NSW) 

The perfect time to have built the cycleway was when the school was offsite for over 3 years. The second-best time is now.

An alliance of residents, parents and advocates is calling for the Minns Government to prioritise the funding and construction of the southern access ramp. 

“The community is united in our stance that the cycleway must be budgeted for and built as a matter of urgency,” says Millers Point Community Group president Annie Crabb 

With enough community support, the cycleway project could get pushed back up the TfNSW ‘to do’ list.

How to join the campaign

Are you frustrated that the Fort Street Public School redevelopment project didn’t deliver a safe cycleway between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Kent Street? Do you think it's crazy that Observatory Hill, one of Sydney's premier landmarks, has NO compliant access that is suitable for wheelchairs?

Here are some actions you can take: