City in Motion: Construction Updates for Cyclists

22 May 2025

Light Rail

Both last weekend and this coming weekend (24-25 May), the slip road from Parkes Way east to Commonwealth Ave South has been, or will be closed. However I haven’t written about it because I’ve never seen bikes using that road.

Very few bikes use Parkes Way eastbound into the City, and if they wanted to ride south over the bridge it’s actually quicker to take the slip off-road at Edinburgh Ave and then use the existing bike path network to go directly to Commonwealth Avenue bridge. This particular road closure therefore should not affect bike riders. However, the next road closures affecting the raising of London Circuit are more likely to do so.

The big change over the past two weeks has been the re-opening of the south east corner of London Circuit to motor traffic. This means the car lanes are open in both directions, but the bike lanes and footpaths won’t open for another week or so. Mind you, the nearly-finished bike- and footpaths look really nice, wide and smooth, not cramped at all. If you are a confident rider you can ride on London Circuit now from Constitution Avenue to Commonwealth Avenue on the road and then turn left towards Commonwealth Avenue bridge. Aftr turning left, the bike lane turns immediately left again and allows you to use the original, larger bike refuge for waiting to cross the slip road, which is much better than the temporary one that we have been using over the past few weeks. What is interesting however is that the footpath is to the right of the bike path when you start to cross the slip road but it’s on the left side when you reach the other side of the slip road! I’m sure there’s a good reason for this. There will still be lots of room for active travellers to sort themselves out at this junction.

Northbound cars can turn right from Commonwealth Avenue bridge into the freshly-opened London Circuit, however we will look at how this works for bikes once the bike routes have been opened too. Things will inevitably change again once track starts to be laid at this junction, but that will not be for a while yet.

The concrete barriers that protect the left lanes on Commonwealth Avenue in both directions near the bridge are being moved and sometimes work is being done in those protected lanes as well. However, plenty of room has been left for bikes. It is likely that these changes are related to the weekend road closures in the near future, finishing off the Raising London Circuit project.

If you want to get to the City Police Station, do not follow the direction signs attached to the building site fencing: these signs will take you to a blocked-off path to nowhere, because the signs have not been changed when access has been changed during construction.  If you want to get to the police station, do not follow the signs! Instead, use the path through the construction site to get to Knowles Place and follow that road to the court house. From there, you can continue along Knowles Place and use the ramp down to the right to get to the courtyard in front of the police station. Once you want to get out again… I suggest that you ask a police officer for directions!

Garden City Cycleway.

The next stage of the Garden City Cycleway which now goes as far as Majura Avenue looks like it has been completed. The new path is now open for its entire length (that has been built so far…). It looks really good, it is smooth, and nice and wide enough. There is enough room to move out when there may be a car approaching from the side.

A wombat crossing has been installed at the south end near Cooyong St to give bike riders better access to to the crossing over Cooyong Street at Lonsdale Street, making it easier and safer to approach the ‘City loop’ bike route on Bunda Street, and on around the City.

The timing of the lights where the route crosses Limestone Avenue needs adjusting, Pedal Power will approach the relevant folk in the near future about that.

 Alternatives

As the construction work becomes busier, congestion and delays will affect commuting car drivers more. After a while the congestion won’t get any worse as some drivers choose to use alternative forms of transport instead, like public transport or bike riding.

At the moment there aren’t significant delays to commuting bike riders, with sufficient off-road routes to most areas of the City and the Parliamentary Triangle. It’s easy to cross the Commonwealth Avenue bridge using the foot and bike paths on both sides, which  take you to pedestrian bridges over Parkes Way, away from the traffic.

It’s usually quicker and easier, and it will save you the cost of car parking fees too!

Can you help? Road and route closures and traffic congestion will change often. If you see anything that you think should be mentioned here, please call or email Pedal Power (communications@pedalpower.org.au) and help us to keep this regular bulletin up to date. Thank you!