Sydney Greenway’s Final Stretch Sparks Inner West Backlash Over Pedestrian Bottleneck

Designed to connect Inner West Sydney, the GreenWay has instead become a point of contention by turning its final stretch into a choke point and funnelling numerous cyclists and walkers onto a narrow Dulwich Hill street.

Following much anticipation, the GreenWay opened last December, nearly two decades after it was first proposed. The $57 million, 5.8km Sydney trail links green space and public transport through the Inner West and, by most measures, it works.

Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne says it is going “gangbusters”, with thousands of cyclists, runners and walkers turning up each weekend.

But the roughly 80 people who live on Weston Street say otherwise.

Because the final 500 metres doesn’t actually stay on the GreenWay path. Instead, the trail spills onto a small suburban Sydney street, sending a steady stream of cyclists, joggers, tour groups and others directly past residents’ front doors.

At a recent bike rave, around 200 people, including rollerbladers, rolled through the road with speakers blasting.

Residents say they have had enough. Handwritten signs reading “FINISH THE GREENWAY” have appeared outside homes, while community meetings warn that, without urgent action, someone could be seriously hurt.

One group of resident described the situation as a “Herculean tsunami of a community-wide mental health crisis,” according to The Guardian.

Engineer Felicity Furey, who has studied the corridor, says the planning simply didn’t go far enough.

“What it failed to do is really deeply consider the social aspects of it and the community,” she said. The project delivered the path but skipped surveying residents on how it might affect their lives.

The issue is not new. A similar design flaw played out on the Nepean Trail in Penrith, where the route pushed thousands of pedestrians onto a regular road with no dedicated infrastructure.

During COVID, Nepean Avenue recorded 500 pedestrians per hour, prompting Penrith’s mayor to flag it as a clear safety risk.

Byrne said the Inner West’s geography and historic streets make dedicated cycling lanes difficult. “We have some of the oldest roads in Sydney, they weren’t designed for active transport,” he said.

The corridor already has more than 48,000 residents and is set to grow, with a half-marathon series in the pipeline.

Greens councillor Izabella Antoniou said she had met with affected residents. “It is council’s role to ensure safety while delivering amenity, and I look forward to working with residents and GreenWay users on that.”

The GreenWay may be a success and genuinely great piece of urban infrastructure in Sydney, but locals say it still needs an ending, or more specifically a 500-metre fix.