Back in 2018 I wrote a response to the public exhibition of the NSW gov's proposed F6 extension. Basically an urban freeway tunnel linking the new #Westconnex interchange at St Peters to President Ave in #Kogarah.
My feedback was that we should be leaning away from urban motorways as a transport solution towards higher capacity and more healthy/environmental friendly modes.
More specifically though, I was interested in the #ActiveTransport plan that was a part of the proposal.
Southern Sydney has been home to an enormous green space that was set aside for the F6 in the 50's. Since this plan was putting the road mostly underground, it made sense to officially convert the reservation into parklands and an active transport corridor.
The plan was to do that, but where there was no reservation simply route the bike path into winding, disparate suburban back streets. Effectively making the path cute for Sunday strolls but useless for commuting. The reason for this was that providing a proper RoW would require acquiring 3 (by my count) houses. For context, the M4 East component of Westconnex acquired hundreds of houses!
This week I stumbled across more detailed plans for the project, now known as the M6 (F stood for freeway and it ain't going to be free) and I am stoked to see the pathways look like they'll be awesome and direct enough to be useful! Hooray!
Link to blog: https://jedsetter.com/submission-to-the-f6-stage-1-eis/
@jedsetter your letter reads just like the ones I wrote. The prospect of working on this project broke any desire I had to stay in the construction industry, and one of the tragic things about it is the powerlessness of the community - there is no room in the 'consultation process' to reconsider building the thing, only to tinker around with what the noise walls look like... But perhaps it was comments like yours that led to this improved bike plan, so that's something at least.
