Riding a bike from Palm Beach or Avalon south through Newport to Mona Vale and beyond is a harrowing ordeal, with a section affectionately known as ‘the bends’ being notorious for white-knuckle cycling.
Recently, asking a friend if she'd ever ridden it, her reply was “No way, I’m not suicidal.”
But after years of delay and almost a decade of planning, work is underway to remedy Sydney's Northern Beaches’ most significant missing link.
Construction teams are feverishly working on the fully-separated coastal path connecting Newport and The Serpentine at Bilgola Beach via Eric Green Reserve. A relatively narrow strip, the job is a significant undertaking with the southern section of the path being built over the coastal escarpment.
From late July, crews will spend two weeks installing a raised threshold where the new shared path ends, providing a transition for riders onto The Serpentine and for walkers onto an existing stairway. Weather permitting, the Northern Beaches Council say all works should be finished by September 2026.
Once complete, the path will thread through Eric Green Reserve, opening up green space between the two beaches without the barrier of the road. It'll have a non-slip surface and bike-friendly features, and discreet, low-glow lighting to keep it safe at night without disturbing wildlife.
The project has been a long time coming. In December 2017, then-MP Rob Stokes announced almost $3 million in NSW Government funding for the project.
“The new path will include an off-road boardwalk section along the Bilgola Bends between Newport Beach and The Serpentine,” he said at the time, “to safely allow cyclists and walkers to travel along this area separated from vehicles.”
Now, almost ten years on, for the many riders who live north of Newport, and the countless thousands who regularly visit the region by bike, navigating the bends will morph from the most harrowing part of the trip to the highlight.