Access to Brown's Waterhole blocked
During the M2 widening, access under the M2 to the Brown's Waterhole cycle path will be periodically blocked. This is apparently for safety reasons, as there will be major construction taking place on the northern side of the motorway. The top section of the path itself may need to be re-aligned, so that the corner and the steep downhill section are not actually underneath the M2.
At a meeting with representatives from Transurban and Leighton (the construction company contracted for the project) on Wednesday 5 May, it was not possible to get any accurate idea of the duration of the closure, nor whether it would be open during morning and evening peak times, and on weekends.
There is no alternative route. The nearest crossings of the Lane Cove River are on Lane Cove Rd and Pennant Hills Rd. Neither of these is in any way a suitable alternative, especially since getting to them would involve a very long detour (up to 10km), and there is no viable way to get there in any case.
Brown's Waterhole is one of the most important and heavily used cycle paths in Northern Sydney. Its closure, even if only intermittent, impacts seriously on many bike commuters and recreational riders. It affects a very large number of Bike North rides. In addition, the path is a popular pedestrian route, for recreation and for access from South Turramurra to the Macquarie area, with a significant number of people walking to work this way. It is also an important access point for fire control during summer.
What action can you take?
If you want any sort of reasonable access during the two years of M2 construction, then now is the time to act.
Deadline - May 25: Send email to enquiries@hillsm2upgrade.com.au. Make your message polite, short and to the point, only talk about Brown's Waterhole (we'll do other issues later). They are obliged to reply, so you may even get an interesting "conversation" going!
Points to address:
- Importance of Brown's Waterhole for cyclists and pedestrians, for both commuting and recreation.
- There is no alternative route of any kind.
- Duration and timing of the closure.
- The Vimiera Rd culdesac should not become a parking area for construction vehicles.
- Nothing should obstruct the drop gutter at the top of the path, or the bollards and boom gate further up the road.
- The path is also a fire trail, and that emergency vehicles may need access at short notice during summer.
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Last update: 12/05/2010 — Copyright © 2005