A police crackdown on cyclists in Sydney’s CBD has drawn criticism from Sydneysiders who say the city is becoming difficult to navigate on two wheels.
A recent Reddit post shows NSW Police officers stopping numerous cyclist on the corner of George St and Liverpool St.
“Eight officers putting in the hard yards to keep our Sydney streets safe from wild cyclists on the footpath,” the user captioned the pictures.
A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed Sydney City Police Area Command officers conducted a high-visibility operation within the Sydney CBD and Haymarket areas on Monday,
The operation was in response to recent increases in collisions between pedestrians and cyclist, among other compliance issues.
“The operation was in response to recent increases in collisions between pedestrians and bicycle users, and reports of cyclists failing to comply with road rules including riding on footpaths,” the spokesperson said.
“Police issued 45 people with bicycle-related traffic infringement notices, with a 28-year-old Waterloo man arrested and charged with riding a bicycle without a helmet, riding on a footpath, and two counts of custody of a knife in a public place.”
“He was refused bail to appear in Downing Central Local Court today (Tuesday 11 October 2022).”
But the post, showing cyclists being fined or cautioned, attracted hundreds of comments and triggered broader discussions about travelling in the city by bike or on foot.
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“Listen, we can’t have both the QMS billboards and cyclists on footpaths – that’s just dangerous,” one respondent wrote in jest.
Last week, Sydney leaders and residents blasted the City of Sydney’s new electronic billboards for blocking footpaths. Pictures showed pedestrians sidestepping around the new instalments.
Others said recent city upgrades, including a major transformation of George Street, did little for usability.
“Considering how much and how long it took reconfiguring George Street, it’s astounding that they didn’t make way for a bike corridor or at least a shared section,” one user wrote.
“There’s a whole pile of piecemeal disconnected cycling “infrastructure” in the CBD and its highly unfair to penalise people for trying to be more efficient than the half-a**ed dedicated infrastructure,” another wrote.
Others said rules about where cyclist can and cannot ride in the CBD were downright confusing.
“That’s my one of my biggest criticisms. If there are signs on George St, I have never seen them. And I look,” one person wrote.
“I don’t want to cycle in pedestrian zones, and I certainly don’t want to cycle where I can cop a huge fine. So I look, and I look, and I look. If I cannot see any big ‘Bicycles Prohibited’ or ‘Pedestrian Only’ sign, I presume it’s OK.”
According to the NSW Government: “Generally, bicycle riders must not ride on a footpath.”
“However, children under the age of 16 years can ride on the footpath unless there is a No Bicycles sign.”
But there are come concessions.
Adult cyclists are allowed on footpaths if they are supervising a child under the age of 16, a delivery rider, carrying a child under 10 as a passenger or have a medical condition among others.
Others said bike racks in ‘no cycling’ zones – as pictured in the George St photos – send mixed messages.
In 2020, the City of Sydney opened a number ‘pop up cycleways’ in addition to existing infrastructure which have drawn criticism in recent weeks.
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Six temporary cycleways remain in place in Glebe, Pitt street, Moore Park Road in Paddington and Sydney Park Road in Erskineville despite ministerial orders they be removed at March 31 this year.
Leading Sydney barrister Mark Fozzard claimed in a memorandum of advice that the cycleways have been unlawful since the start of June.
“The question which arises is whether there is any lawful authority for the continuation of the temporary cycleway,” he wrote in a memorandum of advice.
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