Letter

No union on Bourke Street

I listened with interest on Saturday 4 July as Clover Moore, the Lord Mayor of Sydney, spoke on Sydney radio, imploring the NSW State Government to listen to Pyrmont residents and their objections to the threatened resumption and demolition of buildings in Union St Pyrmont for a proposed Metro station. Go Clover! Her concern for residents’ rights and respect for their opinions is why she continues to be re-elected as MP for the seat of Sydney and one of the reasons she was also returned as Lord Mayor.
Why is it then that the Council of the City of Sydney continues to ignore residents of Bourke St Surry Hills and their objections to the proposed separated cycleway Council is hell-bent on building in that street? There already is a long established and functioning cycleway in Bourke Street, which can be part of Council’s plan for a city-wide network of cycleways. Bourke Street residents do not want, nor do cyclists need, bi-directional dedicated lanes separated from vehicle traffic.
Council’s plan represents increased risks to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike by reducing the width of parking and traffic lanes, reducing vision and room to move to avoid collisions. The risk of cyclists being ‘car-doored’ will increase and motorists will need to be vigilant of cyclists not only in the dedicated cycleway lane but also in the vehicle traffic lane. Passengers alighting from parked cars will have to choose between alighting into the narrowed traffic lane on the driver’s side or stepping into the cycleway on the passenger side. The proposed cycleway lanes will be so dangerously narrow, at only 1.2 metres, that the majority of cyclists will continue to use the vehicle traffic lanes anyhow. To accommodate the proposed separated cycleway, 64 car parking spaces will be lost in Bourke Street between Woolloomooloo and Waterloo, 49 of them between Taylor Square and Cleveland Street. This parking loss to residents, which Council now blames on the RTA, is simply not necessary. Bourke Street works well as it currently is for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
The Lord Mayor is listening to the residents of Union St Pyrmont. She also needs to listen to the residents of Bourke St Surry Hills.
Chris Cooper, Surry Hills