Construction will soon start on essential new bike links for the thousands of residents moving into Sydney’s booming Green Square area.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the infrastructure would encourage more people to walk and ride, connecting Green Square residents and businesses to public transport, the inner city and beyond.
“The cycleways through Green Square will give local residents and businesses an easy, comfortable and safe 15 minute ride to Central Station, with the capacity to transport more than 50 busloads of people a day,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Planning Green Square from the ground up has given us a unique opportunity to create a 36-metre wide central spine through the Green Square Town Centre – wide enough to accommodate a one-way separated cycleway on both sides. This is a first for Sydney, as all our other cycleways are retrofitted on narrower streets.”
“We’ve budgeted $540 million for essential infrastructure for the fast growing Green Square community over the next decade. That includes a fantastic new library, childcare centre, community hub, a new pool and great new open spaces and parks.”
“We are doing everything we can to make sure Green Square is a great place for our existing residents and the new people moving in.”
Three new cycleways are planned for the Green Square Town Centre. The first will be a 275 metre separated bidirectional cycleway along Geddes Avenue between Botany Road and Portman Street – construction on this first Green Square cycleway will begin in June 2016.
The second will be a one-way, 420 metre separated cycleway on either side of Zetland Avenue, connecting Gunyama Park and the Aquatic Centre to the town centre and community facilities. Lastly there will be a 350 metre separated bidirectional cycleway along Portman Street between Portman Lane and Hansard Street.
The cycleways in the Green Square Town Centre will be completed in stages and will open by late 2019. The Green Square library and plaza will open to the public in early 2018, and will include bike access between Zetland Avenue and Botany Road to Green Square Railway Station.
The new cycleways through Green Square will connect to more than 2.4 kilometres of separated bike lanes already linking Zetland, Waterloo, Alexandria and Redfern with the inner city.
The links will provide an easy 20-minute ride from Green Square along separated cycleways, shared paths and parks. Riders will also be able to get to destinations like Sydney University in less than 20 minutes and Central Station in about 15 minutes.