Sydney’s Inner West GreenWay Opens After Decades In The Making
Image: GreenWay proposal illustration. Source: Inner West Council
After nearly two decades of community campaigning, Sydney’s long-awaited GreenWay is officially open, giving the Inner West a continuous six-kilometre path for walking and cycling.
The route runs between Iron Cove and the Bay Run in the north and the Cooks River at Earlwood in the south, cutting through Lewisham West and Dulwich Hill alongside the Inner West light rail and Hawthorne Canal.
For the first time, residents can move between multiple suburbs without being pushed onto busy roads or piecing together backstreets.
Inner West’s long-awaited GreenWay finally opens
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, thousands of people turned up at Sunday’s opening.
Fantastic to see the Greenway open today.
Perfect marriage of mid-rise density and active transport, and makes the Inner West better connected than ever. pic.twitter.com/ONDV9s8sGc
— Sydney YIMBY (@SydneyYIMBY) December 14, 2025
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What was once a forgotten transport corridor is now a shared civic spine. The path is lined with foreshore walks, bushcare sites, murals, playgrounds, cafes, and sporting facilities. Blurring the line between infrastructure and parkland, the GreenWay is a long-waited third space in Sydney.
NSW Transport Minister John Graham said the $57 million environmental corridor reflects changing travel habits across the city. “This beautiful arc of green space and active cycleway will add greatly to the network,” he said. “As you can see, this is going to be wildly popular.”
Beyond transport, the project delivers new green space along the corridor, including a fully fenced off-leash dog park in Lewisham West and a new wetland area designed to support local habitat and biodiversity.
Premier Chris Minns said the GreenWay “won’t just link two of Sydney’s most popular walks” and is intended to stand as a destination in its own right, “for everyone to enjoy”.
Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen, who has advocated for the GreenWay since her election in 2015, said the shared pathway has “a strong connection to the community and the environment,” adding that it provides “a great space for enjoying the outdoors and travelling across our community.”
But getting there took time. Construction required complex tunnels and underpasses beneath major roads to create a continuous, accessible route, challenges that stretched the project across multiple governments and funding rounds.
The GreenWay has been funded through a mix of state, local and federal investment, including more than $41 million from the NSW government, $11 million from Inner West Council and $6 million from the Commonwealth, with further upgrades, like additional tunnelling works, along the corridor still planned.
