MOTORISTS have slammed a plan to convert a lane of the Pacific Highway through North Sydney into a bike lane similar to the Bourke St cycleway in Surry Hills.

The proposal is part of a comprehensive cycling strategy prepared for North Sydney Council which flags the Pacific Highway cycleway as a high priority.

The two-way lane would run from Middlemiss St, Milsons Point, to West St, Cammeray.

undefined

The $15 million conversion would be funded largely by the State Government.

Cyclists have welcomed the proposal, saying that it would complete a vital missing link in the North Sydney bicycle network.

“It’s great because it would be a much safer north-south link for cyclists,” Bike North’s Kim Ryan said.

“Now we are forced down Miller St, where there are a lot of buses, taxis and cars, and it can be quite dangerous along that corridor.”

News_Image_File: Cyclists scale the steps to and from the Harbour Bridge cycleway. Picture: Dave Swift

However, motorists have questioned the wisdom in removing a traffic lane from a major arterial road.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said: “While the NRMA supports improving cycling infrastructure, I’m not sure putting a cycleway on the Pacific Highway is the right solution. “In fact, it would create even more traffic chaos along what’s an already very congested stretch of road.”

The route would link the Harbour Bridge cycleway via a “bi-directional cycleway” on the Pacific Highway northbound through North Sydney to West St. The two-way cycleway would then extend north along West St to Amherst St, Cammeray.

News_Image_File: A car lane along the traffic-congested Pacific Highway may be sacrificed for a bike path.

A spokeswoman for the Roads and Maritime Services confirmed it would continue to work with Transport for NSW and the council to progress the plans “subject to confirmation of funding”.

North Sydney Council director of engineering and property services Duncan Mitchell said the cycleway would replace the traffic lane closest to the kerb. “It is a bi-directional on-road cycleway that physically separates cyclists, motorists and pedestrians in the safest way,” he said.

“It is mirrored on the cycleways in City of Sydney, including along Kent St.”

Mr Mitchell said the RMS was considering changing traffic-light phasing to allow bikes to cross at the interestion of Pacific Highway and West St.

News_Image_File: The North Sydney Council plan proposes converting a lane of the Pacific Highway through North Sydney into a bike lane similar to the Bourke St cycleway in Surry Hills.

The plan, prepared at a cost of $100,000 by GTA Consultants, is a road map for creating an accessible, safe and connected network for bike riders of all abilities and ages.

It flags four other priority routes to fill gaps in the existing network.

They include a route that aims to take cyclists off the badly congested Military Rd onto an on-road mixed traffic cycle route from St Leonards Park through residential streets to Mosman.

Other key routes include from Kirribilli to Neutral Bay; on Willoughby Rd and Holtermann St, Crows Nest; and a revamp of the existing route from Yeo St, Mosman, to North Sydney.

News_Module: Middlessmiss St, Milsons Point

The draft cycling strategy is now on public exhibition on the council’s website.

In December, the NSW Government released Sydney’s Cycling Future, which identified the missing north shore link between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Naremburn cycleway as a high priority for investment.

An earlier proposal to build a flyover for cyclists above the Warringah Freeway at an estimated cost of $85 million has been shelved.

AT A GLANCE

● Five new cycling routes for the lower north shore

● New cycleway on Pacific Highway from North Sydney to Cammeray

● New cycleways for Mosman, Cammeray, Cremorne and Neutral Bay

● 12 secure bike parking cages at transport hubs

● The number of cyclists has doubled in five years