Upgrade ill-conceived and overpriced says council

The RTA’s impressions of the Iron Cove Bridge after the $156 million upgrade. Left, the citybound side with a new bus lane. Right, an aerial view of the new
three lane bridge. Images courtesy of the RTA.

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“Through constant nagging, our of-
ficers have been able to have one
or two meetings with the RTA,” he
said.
“It would have been a better proc-
ess in the long term if they were able
to work with us.”
Cr Tsirekas said the money would
have been better spent improving
public transport in the area.
But RTA CEO Les Wielinga said
the upgrade struck the right balance
between bus users and motorists.
Under the RTA’s preferred op-
tion for Victoria Road, a bridge will
be built over the Drummoyne Swim
Centre and King George Park, which
will cause shadowing over the pool
up until 9.30am. Times may differ
depending on the season.
The new bridge would also in-
clude a lane for pedestrians and cy-
clists that will link up with the Bay
Run. But there will be no bicycle
lanes along the rest of the corridor.
The existing Iron Cove Bridge’s
clip-on lane will be retained for
maintenance and then removed.
This will increase the bridge’s
lifespan, Mr Wielinga said.
“Bridges survive as long as you
properly maintain them. Putting
less traffic on it would help that,” Mr
Wielinga said.
“One of the things the communi-
ty suggested was to just have a clip-
on lane on the side of the bridge,” he
said.
“But to put that lane on we would
have to strengthen up the existing
bridge. It’s actually more expensive
to do that.”
Further up the corridor, from
Seymour Street to the Iron Cove
Bridge, a moveable barrier will allow
for a bus lane and three general traf-
fic lanes to head into the city during
morning peak times.
There will, however, be no bus
lane heading back to Drummoyne
during evening peak times.
“We did a lot of monitoring work
and found that the AM peak is a
lot more compressed than the PM
peak,” Mr Wielinga said.
He said the time saved by putting
in an inbound bus lane would be
negligible.
The RTA would release traffic
movement reports once the environ-
mental assessment was completed,
he said.
Cr Tsirekas said council would
be losing up to 15 car spots near
Drummoyne Swim Centre and was
looking for compensation from the
State Government but would not
comment further.
CHANGES TO EXPECT IN YOUR
STREET AFTER THE UPGRADE
• No left turn from Cary Street onto
Victoria Road during AM peak.
• Clearways through Drummoyne on
both sides of Victoria Road during
AM and PM peaks.
• Bus stops to be removed include
Seymour Street, Drummoyne
(citybound), Tavistock Street, Drum-
moyne (outbound).
•Two bus stops at Church Street and
Edwin Street (outbound) will be
amalgamated and relocated to mid
way between the two.
• For more information on changes
to Victoria Road or to make com-
ments, head to www.rta.nsw.gov.
au/victoria road.

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