We have met with the Transport for NSW Active Transport Strategy team and Active Transport Delivery team to collaboratively review the proposed design and are continuing to liaise with Transport for NSW for further refinement advice and feedback.

We have also engaged an independent consultant to review the revised design, as per Council’s resolution at its meeting on Tuesday 30 April 2024.

Once the reviews have been completed, any recommendations will be considered and incorporated into the design where appropriate.

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We asked for your feedback on a revised two way separated bike path and received 758 unique submissions. Thank you to all who provided feedback.

A report detailing these outcomes, including a copy of all comments received, was presented to Council at its meeting on Tuesday 30 April 2024, where it was resolved to:

1. Defer the decision on Item 13.4, to enable additional information to be sought
2. Work with Transport for NSW Active Travel Team and experts in road space relocation with the view to refine the detailed option(s) for a separated dedicated bike path, with the goal of trying to:

1. address relevant safety issues identified in the safety audit; and
2. minimise the number of car spaces lost.

Once the design is finalised we will share this with the community and plans on implementation. Thank you to everyone who has submitted their feedback and been involved with the project. We look forward to delivering a solution which promotes active travel and makes it safer for children travelling to and from school.

Background

Over the past two years three options were presented for consideration to improve the amenity of Oliver Street, Bennett Street and Park Street between Freshwater Village and Curl Curl Lagoon. The revised design has been developed based on community feedback, key stakeholder engagement, the outcomes of an independent Road Safety Audit, and approval at the Local Traffic Committee meeting (held 5 April 2022). The proposed works include:

• On-road two way separated cycleway on the northern side of Bennett Street and eastern side of Oliver Street
• 20km/h safe street environment on Park Street
• Eight new and improved crossings for people walking and bike riding
• One zebra crossing upgraded to a raised pedestrian crossing
• Two new bus stop platforms that will be disability compliant and enable quicker boarding and alighting of bus passengers
• More greenery, including garden beds
• Safer walking routes to local primary schools with over 2,000 households able to walk continuously using marked crossings
• Wider lanes compared to previous proposals plus additional width at the bend of Oliver Street and Bennett Street
• More pavement space for children and families during pick-up and drop-off time outside Harbord Public School on Oliver Street, and
• Wayfinding signage and line marking upgrades.

In June 2023 we listened to the community and paused works to revise the design of the Curl Curl to Freshwater connectivity project. We refined the proposed design for a better whole community outcome.

We then went out to community consultation for a period of five weeks in late 2023. An independent consultant reviewed the feedback and prepared a Community Engagement Report.

Check out the images and maps

User the sliders on the images below to compare the current streets with the proposed works.

The map below identifies residences that can walk to school safely. The proposed design means safer walking routes to local primary schools with over 2,000 households able to walk continuously using marked crossings. For many more households students will only need assistance crossing the street in front of their house.

While parking is being retained on both sides of the street, some reduction in on-street parking is anticipated from the street upgrade to accommodate safety and design requirements. This includes providing wider buffers on either side of driveways to allow ease of access for residents to and from their properties, in response to feedback previously received from directly affected households.

We have closely studied parking impacts to ensure parking demand and supply is appropriately managed. There are 216 properties (including individual units) directly along the project route, comprising primarily of single dwelling houses with access to at least one off-street parking space, noting that the long-term parking of private vehicles is the responsibility of the property owner on private property. The latest Census data for Freshwater suggests that there would be approximately 339 private vehicles owned by these properties.

The table below outlines impacts to on-street parking spaces along the project route. View the parking adjustments map for more detail.

To accommodate safer intersections and adequate sight lines near new pedestrian crossings, some parking may be reduced on side streets intersecting with Oliver Street, specifically, these include:

• 2 spaces on Bennett Street
• 4 spaces on Brighton Street
• 2 spaces on Wyuna Avenue
• 1 space on Wyndora Avenue
• 1 space on Soldiers Avenue