These include six new pop up cycleways in key commuter areas across the city and new temporary safe speed limits to promote walking and cycling.
“As the economy starts to open up again we face some real challenges in ensuring people can remain safe while still getting to and from work,” Mr Constance said.
“We are already seeing our public transport system at capacity during peak periods with the need to physical distance and we want to offer the community more options to make their journeys safer.
“We’ve been working closely with City of Sydney Council to identify key public spaces that could be freed up for cycling paths and prioritising pedestrians and cyclists to ensure safety.”
In the villages of Camperdown, Ultimo and Bridge Road between Annandale and Pyrmont, new 40km/hr zones will be piloted in conjunction with pop up cycleway measures to provide safe route options for commuters and pedestrians.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the six new pop up cycleways will be rolled out to the west, east and south of the CBD on:
- Bridge Road and Pyrmont Bridge Road at Pyrmont
- Pitt Street North in the CBD
- Moore Park Road in Paddington and Moore Park
- Dunning Avenue at Rosebery
- Sydney Park Road in Alexandria and Erskineville
- Henderson Road at Eveleigh.
The Lord Mayor said the NSW Government and the City of Sydney Council were also considering plans to deliver temporary cycleways on Oxford Street in Paddington and Darlinghurst, King Street, College Street and Castlereagh Street in the CBD, and King Street in Newtown.
“Across the world, cities are creating more space for people where it is needed to enable safe physical distancing,” the Lord Mayor said.
“When someone rides to work, they take a car off the road or free up space on public transport – this will be even invaluable when people start returning to the city and seek to maintain physical distancing.
“The rapid roll-out of key connections in our cycleway network will improve safety for people riding to the city centre, school and health facilities, and reduce crowding on public transport.”
“We’re moving forward with trying to get as many people back to work as possible, as every worker is an essential worker in NSW, but we have to be careful in how we do that,” Mr Constance said.
“We’ll be monitoring these pop up solutions closely and working with other councils across Sydney to identify hot spots where we can implement temporary measures to ensure people can safely distance themselves.
The NSW Government recognises more people than ever are walking or cycling to work or for leisure and fitness. Thanks to the strong economic management of the NSW Government around $600 million will be invested into walking and cycling infrastructure over the next four years.
This will bring the NSW Government’s total investment to around $1 billion – the largest commitment in the state’s history.