Various community groups have mobilised a petition to build a bridge between Carriageworks and South Eveleigh that will provide better connectivity for cyclists and pedestrians.
Spearheaded by Friends of Erskineville, REDWatch, and the Alexandria Residents Action Group, the joint campaign by people who work and go to school in Redfern, Alexandria, Chippendale, Darlington, Erskineville, and Waterloo is calling on Transport for NSW to include and prioritise a new bridge as its reviews the plans to redevelop North Eveleigh.
According to reports, residents have been asking for a cyclist and pedestrian bridge for decades. In 2008, the Planning and Environment conducted an assessment but the plan was withdrawn and shelved in the same year as well.
Calls to build a bridge have been reignited after Mirvac bought the Redfern tech precinct, the Australian Technology Park, in 2015 with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and thousands of its employees as the anchor tenant. Mirvac was open to building a bridge as the new owner of the property.
Andrew Chuter of the Friends of Erskineville said that they launched the petition for the Carriageworks to South Eveleigh bridge to reiterate the growing need for the bridge since more people are walking and cycling to work or school. Whilst there are cycleways in the corridors between Redfern to Erskineville, they said that another bridge will allow them to get to their destinations between Darlington and Alexandria without having to go the way around the other routes.
The construction of the Waterloo Metro station, which will be completed in 2024, will also bring in thousands of students every day who will save at least 15 minutes of their commute if there was a pedestrian bridge in the area.
To date, the petition has gained nearly 600 signatures. Sydney councillors support the initiative as well.
Transport for NSW said that its “investigating the feasibility” of a cyclist and pedestrian bridge but has no additional information to share as of press time. Meanwhile, Friends of Erskineville met with Mirvac to discuss the bridge.