Time is running out for the state government to approve and build new bike paths through central Sydney before work starts on a light rail project next year.

And cyclists are also concerned a proposed cycleway along Castlereagh Street – to replace a path the government wants to remove on College Street – will be built only as a part-time cycleway, open to vehicles outside peak hours.

Concerned: Cyclists on the College Street cycleway, which is slated for removal. Credit:Peter Rae

The NSW government has said it wants to connect the city's half-completed network of cycleways and build the majority of new paths by the time construction starts on George Street light rail in April next year.

But there are now significant doubts about what the new cycleways will look like, and whether cyclists will have to wait years to use them.