Protesters won’t stop bike paths on Bourke Street

BY MICHAEL GORMLY

Bourke Street looks set for a cycle route from Woolloomooloo to Zetland after Lord Mayor Clover Moore faced down a noisy crowd dominated by naysayers at Monday’s Planning Committee meeting.

Nearly 30 speakers addressed Council, closely divided between yeas and nays, but speakers opposing the current plan always got the loudest applause.

Ms Moore threatened to shut down the meeting when Michael Leyland, director city projects, was drowned out by angry residents.

‘You’ve got to realise we’re not sitting on our hands like Bob Carr did for 12 years without building any infrastructure. We’re a can-do council,’ she said.

Bourke Street residents were angry that detailed plans for the route were released only three working days before the meeting ‘ their last chance to comment before Council’s final vote next Monday.

Many lamented the loss of parking spaces. Officially a net 64 spots will go but actual counts showed closer to 80 vehicles parked in the affected areas. People living in terrace houses with no vehicle access envisioned ‘driving around in ever-widening circles’ until they found a space.

Others protested that cars parked next to the cycle path would still have to open their doors up to a metre into the path of bikes. Parents unloading kids and pushchairs would have to place them directly onto the cycleway. When accidents happened there might be no way to identify the rider who also may not have third-party insurance.

Mr Leyland said this had been considered. Where cars were parked next to the cycle lane the separating median strip would be replaced by 400mm of differentiated, useable flat space ending in a low, stepped kerb.

Staff were also looking at removing dedicated turn lanes for cars at Albion and Fouveaux Streets which would restore some lost parking spots.

Plans for bikes and pedestrians to share footpaths south of Cleveland Street were unpopular, with Harold Scruby from the Pedestrian Council swearing he would ‘fight it all the way’. Con Bousgos, licencee of Bar Cleveland on the corner of Bourke wondered how he would deliver truckloads of beer kegs across a cycleway.

Labor’s Meredith Burgmann was the only councillor to oppose the plan, supporting a deferral for more consultation.

But the big picture of climate change, sustainable cities and the safety benefits of separating bikes and cars look like prevailing. In support were several women who said they were simply too afraid to mix it with Sydney’s notorious car drivers and separated lanes would give them the confidence to commute by bike.