Rhodes Cycleway Completed...

[wombatK]

While I missed the event due to other commitments, my riding mates reported:

It could only happen in Australia...

Last night during the usual Friday evening "Giro Olimpico" 28Km ride around Olympic park and Parramatta river,
we were invited to join celebrations under the old rail bridge Rhode for the extension of the water front park
and cycleway. Free beer, wine, finger food, coffee, live jazz from above a double decker trailer and
free rides aboard a huge MSB cat.

Thankyou Canada Bay Council. Of course we were late getting home, bugger!

It gets rid of one of the dodgier bits on the Spring Cycle, and many regular commuters trips.

Canada Bay Council deserves the kudos - get out and enjoy it !


Cheers

[Hergest]

Hooray. That was a rough old bit under the bridge.

[ab012]

Cool! presume this goes under the bridge and emerges the other side to the crossing to the rail bridge? would be great as that turnoff (before the new cycleway) always concerned me

[find_bruce]

Cool! presume this goes under the bridge and emerges the other side to the crossing to the rail bridge? would be great as that turnoff (before the new cycleway) always concerned me

Unless we missed something when we rode through on Saturday, the only way off the John Whitton Bridge is turning left onto Blaxland Road and then left at Leeds St to go under the railway. What is now open is that you can ride on the waterfront all the way from there to Bicentennial Park - ie this bit is no longer a construction site and is now "Mill Park" - presumably because "former toxic waste dump park" didn't sound quite as attractive

[Anthony1234]

I didn't notice anything different when riding through this area today.

You have been able to ride along the foreshore to the base of the bridge for months, unless this is the gravel under the bridge that has been swapped out. Either way to go from there to the cycle path to cross the rail bridge you will still need to cross the road.

Will check tomorrow if I remember.

Having said this, the cycle paths in Canada Bay council are generally excellent, so I am all for giving the council praise when it is due

[Nobody]

It would be nice if they marked that path adjacent to the shoreline as some peds get the impression we shouldn't be there. It would also be nice to have a dashed line down the middle so peds felt more obligated not to take the whole width of the path along there. When riding at pace I prefer to go down Shoreline Drive. It also has its problems, but at least you know what to expect. If something went badly wrong on the path, a fall onto the rocks probably wouldn't be pleasant.

[find_bruce]

If something went badly wrong on the path, a fall onto the rocks probably wouldn't be pleasant.

A fall into the sediment in the bay would also be distinctly unpleasant - nothing good has ever been discovered about a dioxin rich mud-bath

[Anthony1234]

Rode this section today.

The only "new" part is that it is now paved directly under the bridge, instead of the old gravel. So you can continue along the cycle path under the rail bridge and out the other side to the boat ramp. That boat ramp street is now also paved.

However to get onto the bridge you still need to cross a road, so it is probably easier to leave the cycleway slightly early and go under the car section of the bridge and take a right hand turn, rather than going under the bridge on the cycleway and then trying to cross both lanes at once.

Either way, it is great to see that the council have completed this project.

[Anthony1234]

It would be nice if they marked that path adjacent to the shoreline as some peds get the impression we shouldn't be there. It would also be nice to have a dashed line down the middle so peds felt more obligated not to take the whole width of the path along there. When riding at pace I prefer to go down Shoreline Drive. It also has its problems, but at least you know what to expect. If something went badly wrong on the path, a fall onto the rocks probably wouldn't be pleasant.

It is marked with "ride slowly" with a bike image.

I think that they need to take it a step further and say "no pedestrians". But then the flip-side will also be required where no bikes are allowed on the other wide part of it. I honestly don't know why pedestrians choose to walk along the cyclepath section, as the cycle path is not flat at all.

[wombatK]

Rode this section today.

The only "new" part is that it is now paved directly under the bridge, instead of the old gravel. So you can continue along the cycle path under the rail bridge and out the other side to the boat ramp. That boat ramp street is now also paved.

However to get onto the bridge you still need to cross a road, so it is probably easier to leave the cycleway slightly early and go under the car section of the bridge and take a right hand turn, rather than going under the bridge on the cycleway and then trying to cross both lanes at once.

It's a pretty decent new part, looking east under the bridge from the western side...

and looking west from the eastern side

There's a few benches and bike racks provided under the bridge - so it could be a great spot to enjoy the
view while having some refreshments.

If you have crossed the river south-bound, it's going to be well worth it - as you don't have to deal with the No Right Turn to Mill Park Rd at the western side of the underpass.
If you're heading north across the river, the grade and poor sight lines at the Blaxland Rd/Leeds St intersection will be awkward. But cyclists not comfortable with sitting out in the traffic to do the right turn into Blaxland Rd might still find it a better option. The way some westbound traffic on Leeds St cuts across the center line can be a bit intimidating (and potentially lethal !).

The Rhodes Cafe manager had been telling us that they were planning to build a ramp up to the bridge cycleway on the river (northern) side of Leeds St. Don't know why it didn't happen, but it sure would have been nice.

Cheers

[sogood]

Gees, improvements all the time. Fantastic! But I have some reservation on those sharp corners around the planter boxes.

The next exciting bit of cycleway update will be the finishing of the Bay Run around Drummoyne Swimming Pool. Can't wait!

[ab012]

Thanks wombatK for this!

The way some westbound traffic on Leeds St cuts across the center line can be a bit intimidating (and potentially lethal !).

This is exactly what I have been concerned about - I have had an SUV cross the centre line almost hitting me while I waited

[wombatK]

Gees, improvements all the time. Fantastic! But I have some reservation on those sharp corners around the planter boxes.

The next exciting bit of cycleway update will be the finishing of the Bay Run around Drummoyne Swimming Pool. Can't wait!

Hadn't thought about the sharp corners - must be the doc thinking in you SG ! The corners on the raised concrete blocks might need some respect too. The Spring Cycle might use the new underpass, and with the crowds on that we'll find out how it works. Unless their safety officers think better of it and take us a different route

Agree about completion of the Bay Run missing link - next on the wish list after that would be doing something better than the shared cycleway on the eastern side of Victoria Rd from White Bay to Darling St.

Cheers

[sogood]

Not optimistic on something better on Victoria Rd b/n Robert and Darling Sts. Given the multitude of users and the available space, can't see any solution there. Might be one to go via back streets like how they resolved similar in Drummoyne. A choice b/n safety vs shortest path.

[find_bruce]

Sadly you may be right about Victoria Rd sogood - apart from anything else those road signs are far too important to the RMS to find a solution

I disagree about back street however - I used to ride a combination of back streets Waterloo, Belmore / Red Lion & Quirk streets - I switched back to riding Victoria Rd however because of the driver behaviour on display - far too many impatient / aggressive drivers using back streets as a rat run & the streets are too narrow to pass safely. The difference in Drummoyne is that Renwick St is much wider than the back streets of Rozelle

[g-boaf]

Gees, improvements all the time. Fantastic! But I have some reservation on those sharp corners around the planter boxes.

The next exciting bit of cycleway update will be the finishing of the Bay Run around Drummoyne Swimming Pool. Can't wait!

Hadn't thought about the sharp corners - must be the doc thinking in you SG ! The corners on the raised concrete blocks might need some respect too. The Spring Cycle might use the new underpass, and with the crowds on that we'll find out how it works. Unless their safety officers think better of it and take us a different route

Agree about completion of the Bay Run missing link - next on the wish list after that would be doing something better than the shared cycleway on the eastern side of Victoria Rd from White Bay to Darling St.

Cheers

Never been on it, but have seen it from cars. Looks very narrow. Surely there must be another way around that.

The new section above looks great, except for the square edges. Just go slowly through there.

[sogood]

Bruce, it must be all the rat run "outsiders"!

Over the last decade and more on the Balmain peninsula, I've noticed a general improvement here in relation to driver courtesy to cyclists. More designated bike routes, more bike signs and more local riders, have certainly made a difference. Local drivers are more patient and fewer squeezes on our narrow streets. The worst offenders in my experience remain to be those out of area commercial van/truck drivers.

[ab012]

checked it out today - surprised they left the gap so narrow with the protruding concrete seat(?)/bench(?) thing...

nice to have another alternative to and from the bridge, although line of sight to the cars still arent that great yet. Beats getting hit by someone while waiting to cross though i guess

[moya]

I agree, I wasn't impressed at all. The nice wide path on each side of the bridge narrows into a real choke point in the new section. Add a few people sitting on the concrete or just walking through and bikes will not be able to pass at all. On top of that, the whole area just looks very drab and ugly. Grey concrete everywhere, pointless tilted platforms, and a very boring selection of plants, half of which are dried out or dead already.

And it was a real missed opportunity to build a ramp up to the bridge cycleway. That would have taken a large number of cyclists and pedestrians completely off the road and out of a risky intersection. As it is now, I think it's safer and less hassle to continue riding on Walker, Leeds and Blaxland.

So it's a resounding 'meh' from me, I don't see much benefit to anyone except users of the boat ramp.

[Hergest]

I went through this morning and i think it's worth noting that the area is primarily a boat ramp. Fast moving bicycles and a boat ramp don't mix very well so slowing down bikes just before the ramp by use of a pinch point is a much better solution than a horrible speed hump for me. I like what they have done under the bridge and once the plants have grown it will be a nice spot. At the top of the boat ramp i think the sight lines to cross the road are good and going that way up to the railway bridge path is far, far better than sitting in the middle of that horrible junction trying to turn right and waiting for some goose to come flying around the bend and take you out.

It's a definite thumbs up from me.

[tubby74]

did a few laps through there this morning, and whilst it's open they are still working on it. vans, utes and tools it was a bit of a mess.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

did a few laps through there this morning, and whilst it's open they are still working on it. vans, utes and tools it was a bit of a mess.

I had the traffic controllers stop the traffic to let me through this morning. It's the way it should be.

[tubby74]

Just back from some evening laps and noticed they've put 3 ground level lights on the east entrance to the new section. Lights are in blocks probably 10 inches cubed and one is dead centre of the path. Would be very easy to not notice during the day or if riding with others.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

for those who haven't seen it, the lights have been installed across Blaxland Rd, but they don't trigger for bicycles on the road, according to my experiments over the last week or so. The bike lights do trigger well, however.

The exit onto Blaxland Rd from the rail bridge has now been closed off with a fence! You pretty much have to take the new bike path after the rail bridge exit.

After you go through the lights, make sure you take the first ramp down to the roadway, if you don't you'll have to go off the gutter.

[Xplora]

Thanks for the heads up. Blaxland is a favourite spot, somehow kept my KOM up the hill from the station

It really is a shocking bit of road for bikes, although I'm a bit confused what it looks like based on your description. Vid or pics?