Walking & cycling streetscape improvements

Improving our streets and public places

We are working hard to improve our streets and public spaces to make them safer and more inviting, especially for people walking or riding a bike.

Our works include creating better pedestrian links, installing cycleways, streetscape upgrades and greening our streets.

Kingsford to Centennial Park cycleway

A new 2.8km separated cycleway connecting Kingsford with Centennial Park is being built to deliver walking and cycling improvements.

The project commenced in late February 2022 and is expected to be complete in late 2023.

The project, developed by Randwick City Council and being delivered by Transport for NSW, is part of a $240 million investment by the Australian and NSW Governments to fix congestion hotspots, expand the cycling network and help the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It includes a 2.8km bi-directional separated cycleway and shared path improvements in Randwick to provide the local community and commuters a safe and convenient active transport option.

The cycleway will connect the Kingsford Light Rail terminus to the Centennial Park cycleway at Alison Road, Randwick. It will also connect to Randwick City Council’s planned cycleway between South Coogee and Kingsford.
The project will:

improve bike rider safety with a new 2.8 kilometre separated cycleway
improve pedestrian and road user safety with upgraded paths, crossings and traffic calming measures
improve streets with new trees, plants and landscaping
provide more places to sit and enjoy the surrounds
provide more bike parking
improve street lighting for safety and security.

Construction of the project is being delivered by Transport for NSW with their delivery partner Burton Contractors.

For the latest updates on the project, you can also visit the Transport for NSW project page.

Community updates

Construction plans and project impacts

Construction plans

View the design plans (PDF, 26Mb) including tree removal and parking changes.

Review of Environmental Factors

View the original approved Review of Environmental Factors for this project:

Trees

In total, the project requires removal of approximately 47 trees along the route and replacing them with over 141 native trees.

The trees being removed have been assessed as part of the Review of Environmental Factors. They are mainly non-native trees and were found not to be ecologically sensitive.

Every effort has been, and will continue to be, made to minimise the loss of trees associated with the project.

View the approved Addendum Review of Environmental Factors :

Tree replacement consultation

We know from previous consultation by Randwick City Council, that improving the streetscape and planting more trees is important to local residents.

As such, Randwick City Council is consulting on the replacement tree species and potential locations and are keen to hear your feedback.

Council have selected tree species that align with their tree planting plans and meet Ausgrid requirements.

Comments will be open from 3 – 31 August 2022.

Find out more at Walking and cycling improvements: Kingsford to Centennial Park | Your Say Randwick (nsw.gov.au)

The project team will be in touch with nearby properties and engage directly with residents on tree replacement near their homes. Where possible, we will replace trees in nearby locations.

Permanent parking changes

About 20 parking spaces will be permanently removed as part of the project. This includes 34 parking spaces removed and 14 spaces added across the project alignment.

These parking changes will make room for new, safer pedestrian crossing areas and to maintain safe vehicle access to properties and businesses.

Previous community consultation

The concept design was on public exhibition for community feedback from 25 May to 9 am 2 July 2018. During this time you could view the concept plans and provide your input at Your Say Randwick. Printed copies of the plans were also on display at Council’s Administration building (30 Frances Street, Randwick) and Randwick City libraries.

A report (starting on page 137) summarising community feedback was discussed at the Ordinary Council meeting on the 28 August 2018. View the minutes (page 10).

A map of the proposed route is shown below.

Download a larger version of the Kingsford to Centennial Park cycling improvements map PDF, 4804.47 KB

For more information

Burtons Contractors for Transport for NSW.

Phone: 1800 650 031
Email: K2CP-community@burtoncontractors.com.au
Web: https://nswroads.work/k2cp

South Coogee to Kingsford cycleway

The South Coogee to Kingsford route provides an east-west connection to the Kingsford light rail terminus travelling along Bundock St, Avoca St and Sturt St.

The 1.9km route is proposed to include a separated cycleway, providing people with a safe, pleasant and healthy alternative to car use for neighbourhood destinations and for longer distance bicycle commuting. The project will also involve streetscape improvements such as new trees, garden beds, footpaths and pedestrian crossings to enhance the amenity of the streets along the route for everyone.

A draft concept was prepared in 2018 and refined in 2019 following community consultation. The revised concept was endorsed by Council in June 2019 and is currently awaiting State Government funding to proceed to construction. There is no set timeframe for this.

Project timeline

Oct 2018 - Draft concept
Nov 2018 - Community consultation
Dec 2018 - Tree assessment
Apr 2019 - Alternate routes considered
Jun 2019 - Revised concept endorsed by Council
Current - awaiting funding

Project summary

Proposed route - South Coogee to Kingsford cycleway

Download a larger version of the South Coogee to Kingsford cycling improvements map PDF, 319 KB

Trees

Every one of the up to 37 trees proposed for removal in the initial design concept have been reviewed and assessed by an independent arborist with a view to saving as many possible. Council has listened to the community and modified the design to significantly reduce tree loss. The revised concept plan has resulted in 27 trees saved – most of which are significant trees atmore than five metres in height.

You can view the status of each tree on the interactive Tree Map.

The project is in partnership with Transport for NSW under the Active Transport Program, an initiative to strengthen active transport – that is, walking and cycling – in key areas. In particular, the Transport for NSW program prioritises connections within five kilometres of public transport interchanges such as the Kingsford Light Rail Terminus.

Community consultation

The concept design for the South Coogee to Kingsford cycleway was on public exhibition for community feedback from 30 October to 23 November 2018. Information about the proposal was posted to local residents and ratepayers, advertised in The Southern Courier and every property along the route was door-knocked.

The concept designs were exhibited at Council's Administration Building and Libraries and also online on our consultation website. Your Say - Randwick.

More than 800 submissions were received. The main issues raised were trees, onstreet vehicle parking, safety for bike riders, traffic and congestion, traffic signals and intersections, pedestrian safety and driveway access.

Of the 291 submissions received through Your Say Randwick:

43% were supportive
20% neutral
28% unsupportive
9% no view expressed

Of the 473 email submissions received:

7% supportive
8% neutral
85% unsupportive (this includes 348 emails with pre-populated text from a campaign site set by Saving Sydney’s Trees)

You can view all submissions received and Council's response by downloading the following document:

Community submissions responses - June 2019 (1.51 MB) (PDF)

It was clear from the feedback that retaining as many trees as possible is the most important issue for many people. Council staff have considered all the feedback and made amendments to the design concept to improve the design.

Revised Concept Plan (June 2019)

Following community consultation, Council staff have revised the concept plans to respond directly to community concerns.

Key changes include:

27 significant trees saved due to redesign
New areas of shared path on Bundock Street between Avoca and Ellen Streets.
Pedestrian crossing on Sturt St near Patton moved to save a tree.

Summary of Revised Concept:

Details plans - Revised Concept:

Typical separated cycleway cross section

How does a separated cycleway work?

A cycleway that is separated from the footpath and the road significantly reduces the conflict and likelihood of accidents between people who walk, people on bikes and motor vehicles. It is widely acknowledged that providing safe cycling infrastructure is the key to making bike riding a viable transportation option for many in the community.

Riding a bicycle on the road requires a person to mix with traffic, often forcing the bike rider to ride close to parked cars where there is a risk of ‘car dooring’. Separated cycleways have been built throughout Sydney and around the world and can integrate with streets with intersections, driveways and traffic lights.

Feedback from City of Sydney indicates that on many of their separated cycleways the bike trips have increased significantly and crashes have gone down.

Numerous studies have shown that when it comes to riding bicycles in cities people generally fall into one of three groups:

about 7% are ‘enthused and confident’
about 33% are characterised as ‘no way, no how’
and the remaining 60% are characterised as ‘interested, but concerned’.

It’s this majority cohort of people who’d like to ride, but are worried about safety. Separated cycleways make it safer to ride a bicycle as bicycle lanes are separated from moving traffic.

Cities around the world are demonstrating that if you make cycling safer and easier, more people will cycle and this benefits everybody and puts less pressure on our road network.

Project updates and news

Council reports

Jun 2019: Revised concept plan and community consultation outcome
May 2019: Route options analysis

Map of bicycle route construction priority

In 2015, Randwick City Council undertook community consultation to review our bicycle routes, and to establish priorities for constructing bicycle routes within the City. The connection from Centennial Park to Kingsford, and from Kingsford to South Coogee were both identified as high priority routes in the finalised Council network.

Council reports prepared in 2015 provide background information on the priority bicycle routes and are available here:

Works Report No W4/15 to the 10 February 2015 meeting PDF, 669.98 KB
Works Report No W39/15 to the 10 November 2015 meeting PDF, 402.49 KB

Map of bicycle route construction priority

Download a pdf version of the bicycle route construction priority map PDF, 379.34 KB

Last Updated: 29 May 2023