Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Just a general question on what are the worst / most dangerous roads/streets in heavily used commutes. Mine is Lilyfield Road in Sydney - some high speeds next to parked cars and parked buses, as well as plenty of bumps and potholes etc etc. Or is this normal???

I agree re Lilyfield Rd headin east but for different reasons - I regularly had near misses from cars pulling out of side streets - Groves St & Justin St in particular. Even worse though were vehicles turning left off Lilyfield Rd at Denison St & Gordon St, straight across my path.

Despite the fact that I could do with the ride up the hill from Hawthorn Canal, I won't use Lilyfield Rd on my way into the city.

It's a great example of needing to think about what causes the hazards because I have no such incicdents riding west along Lilyfield Rd, despite plenty of people turning left at Catherine St & Balmain Rd. On the west run, the only place that needs a bit of caution is Norton St & that appears to be people misjudging my speed rather than not looking / seeing / caring

In Sydney: New Canterbury Road heading city bound through Petersham can have its moments. Heavy traffic, a little up hill, appalling road surface. If traffic is heavy enough in the morning though, i can usually keep with it almost to the intersection at Crystal Street.
Bridge Road, city bound through Camperdown/Glebe. Can get busy but i am more worried about the actual state of the road surface. Its been dug up and resurfaced that many times its disgraceful. I've travelled on smoother dirt roads.

Some great info on Lilyfield Road Longshanks - any tips on how you manage to bypass it into the city??

Agreed re Bridge Road - not one of my preferred routes either...

BG73 wrote:Some great info on Lilyfield Road Longshanks - any tips on how you manage to bypass it into the city??

Hey BG73, its find_bruce who skirts Lilyfield Rd east bound..I come into the city via Stanmore/Glebe past the fish markets so not via Lilyfield Rd and Anzac Bridge.

BG73 wrote:Some great info on Lilyfield Road ... - any tips on how you manage to bypass it into the city??

How easy it is to bypass depends on where you are coming from & where in the city you are going to. For me it is easy as it is about the same distance whether I go via Victoria Rd or via Lilyfield Rd. I go a number of ways along Victoria Rd - either uphill on the shared path (I am old, fat & slow) & downhill on the road (but I descend like a brick) or via the backstreets - Cambridge & Quirk Streets.

Now if only I could find an alternative to Pyrmont Bridge - it's not dangerous I just get tired of doding ninja peds and lately they have been armed with pointy sticks

Warringah Road Frenchs Forest, between intersections with Forest Way and Allambie Road.

Traffic turns into a car park and drivers get grumpy and bad-tempered.

There have been a number of cyclist/car collisions in that location, and when I was commuting regularly through there the incidence of abuse and close shaves from drivers was the highest of my 29-odd km commute to Sydney Olympic Park.

When travelling that direction I now detour via Aquatic Drive, Aquatic Centre, over the bridge over Wakehurst Parkway, and rejoin Warringah Road about 150m west of Forest Way. Traffic and short sight lines mean I usually end up riding the footpath to Killarney Heights before jumping back on the road near the Shell petrol station.

No really functional alternative available.

I agree about Lilyfield Rd. I go around Iron Cove past Leichhardt Oval & Rowing Club then up Victoria Rd (shared path). Also bypasses that dreadful narrow pedestrian overpass on Victoria Rd

Yep, had the find_bruce experience this morning with a cab cutting me off turning left off Lilyfield road... Am excited to find a potential alternative this evening thanks to ganman - very excited.

This is easy: any road where its 70km/hr or higher and there is no shoulder.