Community and councillors back Islington cycleway connection

A new cycleway and shared footpath along Chinchen Street and Hubbard Street in Islington has been endorsed by the elected Council after City of Newcastle received overwhelming community support for the project.

The 665-metre stretch will connect existing cycling infrastructure and provide a continuous protected cycleway from the Scholey Street rail bridge in Mayfield, through to Islington Park and on to the city centre, utilising on-road separated cycleway and off-road shared pathway.

City of Newcastle Executive Manager Transport and Regulation Ryan Tranter said the community feedback was extremely positive.

"City of Newcastle is committed to encouraging the uptake of active transport by providing safe, connected, convenient, and comfortable infrastructure that will support people to choose cycling and walking as their preferred option for travel,” Mr Tranter said.

"More than 90 percent of people who made submissions during the community engagement process supported each aspect of the proposal.

"We're excited to deliver this vital infrastructure to a local community who are strong advocates for active transport, especially parents, staff and students who walk, cycle, scoot, and skate their way to and from Islington Public School and the Tighes Hill TAFE campus. This project caters for all users of varying confidence and ability."

The Islington Cycleway project will include:

• An on-road separated bidirectional cycleway, using concrete separators, along the north side of Chinchen Street between Linden Street and the east side of Styx Creek bridge.
• A shared path along Chinchen Street and Hubbard Street from Styx Creek bridge to John Hooker Street.
• Landscaped kerb extensions at the Linden Street intersection to provide improved visibility and separation for cyclists crossing.
• Connections into the existing shared path at the Clyde Street traffic signals to provide a separated off-road option through the intersection.
• A continuous path along Hubbard Street across John Hooker Street, which gives priority to shared path users over road users.

Construction of the new infrastructure at Islington is expected to start early next year.

The project is being delivered by City of Newcastle, utilising $950,000 from the NSW Government through Transport for NSW’s Get NSW Active program.

The Islington section will form an important link in City of Newcastle's 'On Our Bikes' Cycling Plan, which proposes the creation of cycling connections from the western suburbs of Minmi and Wallsend all the way through to the inner city.

The new cycleway will also complement City of Newcastle's $800,000 upgrade of the intersection of Chinchen and Clyde streets, which was completed last year featuring new traffic signals for improved pedestrian, cyclist and road user safety.