7 September 2023
By Grahame Lynch
Milsons Point residents are continuing to fight for their preferred ‘community’ option for a Sydney Harbour Bridge bike ramp, claiming that the government has admitted that its preferred option proceeded despite a measurement error.
North Sydney councillor Ian Mutton, Milsons Point Community Group convenor Julia Connor and Lavender Bay Precinct chair Robert Stitt have sent a joint letter to Premier Chris Minns asking for an immediate halt to the Transport For NSW project.
In their letter, the three state that: “Transport for NSW made a disastrous measuring error in 2021 when planning a northern approach cycle ramp to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Their error led them to conclude that a ramp landing in Bradfield Park Central had to be 240 metres in length. A correct measure showed the ramp only needed to be 190 metres.”
The three say that Transport for NSW has even admitted to its error in an August report. They quote the department stating: “Transport acknowledged that an error had been made in the assessment of the length of the loop option and the community design. At this point in time the linear option had been identified as the preferred option, based on the outcomes of the community engagement carried out between 7 and 28 June 2021 and was therefore progressed.”
The letter to Minns says that “the incorrect data was then used as a basis to eliminate the Community Cycle Ramp which met all relevant standards and had widespread support. Transport for NSW went on to promote its preferred option, a flawed linear cycle ramp. This resulted in unsound ministerial advice and the expenditure of many millions in justifying its preferred scheme. This action will cause irreparable damage to the heritage features of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and its parkland setting, and will lead to many accidents between cyclists and pedestrians.”
The so-called community option would employ a loop design making landfall south of the Milsons Point station entrance, occupying a much smaller footprint than the government’s proposed linear option which would extend several hundred metres along Bradfield Park North to near the Alfred St South and Lavender St roundabout. “The CCR solution was formed by a group of local cyclists and residents who are variously urban planners, architects, engineers, lawyers, heritage experts, and landscape architects living in the community. All want a ramp off the Sydney Harbour Bridge which is easily rideable for everyone and does not damage the heritage values of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia’s internationally renowned icon,” according to its proponents.
The letter to Minns concludes: “We are calling for you to pause, and direct the Minister for Transport to immediately halt these plans and re-engage with the community and North Sydney Council to deliver the solution given to Transport in mid-2021, the Community Cycle Ramp. We also call on you to independently review the conduct of Transport in this development as it is hard to see that there will not be political fallout in this development.”
