Cyclists’ choice: risk it or rot

By Michael Gormly

When westbound cyclists reach the intersection of Wilson Street at Erskineville Road, Newtown, they face a Catch-22: The traffic lights are designed for the previous car-only use and there are no lights allowing bikes to exit Wilson street.

They face a choice of waiting there until they rot or illegally venturing out into the busy intersection, crossing traffic which is roaring confidently through a green light.

Cyclists can’t even see any of the traffic lights in the other directions, which would inform an educated guess. City of Sydney Council, which built the existing lanes, says the lights are the responsibility of the RTA who have been aware of the problem for some years.

Wilson Street, running from Redfern Station to Newtown, is the local ‘bike highway’. It is bracketed at each end by green contraflow bike lanes which allow cyclists to legally ride in the opposite direction to the one-way traffic.

The long stretch in-between is relatively flat and wide, has no cross streets, and roundabouts instead of traffic lights. It is a spine in the City of Sydney’s bike network.

While the RTA is busy promoting more billion-dollar road tunnels all over Sydney, there is not much Council can do except comment as follows:

‘Improvements planned for the one way section of Wilson Street include:
‘ Narrowing the traffic lane and widening the contra-flow bicycle lane
‘ Replacing the existing barrier line with a double barrier line
‘ Requesting a reduced speed limit of 40kph from the RTA
‘ Adding bicycle traffic lights and a bicycle phase at the traffic signals at Erskineville Road.
‘ The two-way length of Wilson Street is identified in the Cycling Strategy
as being a candidate for a separated cycleway.’

RTA grants another cycle route
A route for a new north-south cycleway from Druitt Street to the Harbour Bridge along Kent Street has received Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) agreement after a review process that took several years.

Forming a central spine through the CBD, The City of Sydney’s proposed bi-directional, separated route will provide a missing link between the existing cycleway on the Harbour Bridge, the new King Street cycleway toward the west, and routes to the east and south.