A ‘temporary’ Sydney cycleway installed in 2020 will remain in place until at least the end of the year due to a three-fold increase in usage and a significant reduction in riders being hit and injured.
The Sydney City Council recently approved the continued operation of the Moore Park Road / Fitzroy Street pop-up cycleway - a key corridor between Bondi, the Eastern suburbs and the CBD. While Council would like to see the permanent retention of the cycleway, the final outcome depends upon state government funding of the nearby Oxford St project.
Use of the Moore Park Road cycleway has increased by 89% over the past three years, with the Fitzroy Street section seeing a 74% increase in two-wheeled traffic. Counter figures show bike trips on Moore Park Road have tripled from around 2,000 per week in May 2021 to more than 6,000 per week in early 2026.
Safety is one of the key considerations of the extension, with the council saying it would be regressive to remove the separated cycleway and return to the previous “door zone” bike lane on Moore Park Road.
In March 2018, before the pop-up cycleway was established, a 29-year-old Rose Bay man was tragically killed following a dooring on Moore Park Road. Additionally, there were four serious injuries and three minor injuries to riders from being hit by car drivers on the busy stretch of Moore Park Road.
Those 4 serious injuries were a 69-year-old Paddington man who was doored; a 35-year-old Tamarama woman hit by the driver of a light truck changing lanes; a man hit by a 4WD; a 55-year-old Zetland man who was doored; and a 44- year-old Tamarama woman hit from behind by a driver who fled the scene.
In the 5 years since the separated cycleway was installed, there has been only one minor injury reported, while usage numbers have soared.
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