Sydney Harbour Bridge northern access bike ramp: Millions spent for 650 commuters

A business group has called for the scrapping of a multimillion-dollar bike ramp onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge as concerns grow over the cost to taxpayers for a project helping just a few hundred Sydneysiders.

Artist’s impression of a bike ramp to be built at the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway. Picture: Transport for NSW

The NSW government is remaining tight-lipped about the true cost of a bike ramp onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge seven years in the making, as community concerns about a spiralling budget for the project grow.

Taxpayers will be slugged in the tens of millions of dollars for the cycleway, which has now been delayed by at least six months, while the latest figures reveal an average of 650 commuters per day use existing infrastructure to cross the harbour.

Business Sydney today called for the project’s axing, stating the ramp would cost at least $100 million and all at the time of an acute cost of living crisis.

Business Sydney Executive Director Paul Nicolaou said:

“The ramp was a nice-to-have had it been overwhelmingly supported by local residents and businesses but it is hard to justify at the height of an acute cost of living crisis,” Mr Nicolaou said.

“There are other priorities for government funds at a time when people in our city are homeless and living in cars and in parks because they can’t afford a roof over their head.

“The money planned for this expensive bike ramp could be better spent on emergency housing.

“We are talking about a bike ramp for fit and well bike riders who could easily continue to wheel their bikes up a stairway to the bridge deck, which they have been doing for decades.”

An Aboriginal design for the ramp’s surface, featuring “interconnected eels”, was unveiled in August. Picture: Transport for NSW

Construction of the northern access ramp, which will snake through Bradfield Park at Milsons Point and save cyclists the effort of climbing the stairs, was due to begin in “early 2024”, Transport Minister Jo Haylen announced in August.

However a Transport for NSW spokeswoman has now confirmed the project isn’t expected to get underway until the middle of the year.

Cyclist counter devices installed by Transport at the Dawes Point exit point picked up 1324 individual weekday ‘trips’ on average over the last 12 months, with overall use falling by 2.29 per cent.

The flight of 55 stairs leading onto the bridge at Milsons Point have a flat median allowing cyclists to push their bike alongside them as the ascend or descend.

The cost of giving cyclists an easier option was set at $20 million under the Baird government in 2016, but opponents to the current design among the North Sydney community believe the increased cost of construction being felt nationwide has blown the budget out to as much as $100 million.

Joan Street from the Milsons Point Community group pictured where the proposed bike ramp will start, replacing the need to push bikes up 55 stairs. Picture: Damian Shaw

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman rejected the heritage protectionist community group’s claim as “not factual”, but refused to confirm the project’s budget or how much has been spent on design, planning and consultation.

The tendering process is in its final stages, the spokeswoman said, and construction costs would be confirmed once the tender is awarded.

The community alternative to the proposed ramp.

The 2023-24 state budget listed the project in a total $98 million spend on ‘active transport’, and it is understood the secrecy around the exact cost is to avoid would-be suppliers from exploiting a dollar figure in their bid.

Jeff Hudson, a resident of Milsons Point and proponent of an alternative, community-designed ramp, said Transport’s planning for the cycle way “was rushed and deeply flawed”, resulting in a stalemate with locals, heritage enthusiasts, and the council.

The existing entrance point to the Sydney Harbour Bridge cycle way. Picture: Renee Nowytarger / News Local

“A linear ramp was decided on before looking at serious risks like loss of parkland, building on heritage land and long standing legal rights to the land,” he said.

The transport department has also spent $2.5 million appeasing North Sydney Council, offering to fund upgrades to Bradfield Park as a deal sweetener.

North Sydney councillor and former mayor Jilly Gibson said the ramp is a “cumbersome” and “really badly designed piece of infrastructure” that could endanger pedestrians where cyclists exit at speed.

“The issue of the bike ramp has deeply divided the local community … many see it as a total waste of money and infrastructure,” she said.

North Sydney councillor and former mayor Jilly Gibson. Picture: John Appleyard

Cr Gibson pleaded with the Minns government to “scrap the project and start again”, describing it as “irresponsible expenditure” amid increased cost of living pressures.

“Couldn’t that money be better spent?” she said.

Minister for Transport Jo Haylen. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Urban planning expert Professor James Weirick, also a proponent of the community cycle ramp counter-proposal, said the money being spent on consultation and potential legal battles over the land ownership “must give pause to the Minns government in today’s world”.

“Transport are experts in delivering projects late and over budget,” he said.

“We have this problem, endemic in Transport for NSW’s many responsibilities, of very complex projects blowing out and causing unexpected problems, and landing on the desks of a new minister who’s inherited this in Jo Haylen.”

The Transport Minister maintained the ramp will allow more people, including kids, e-bike users and people using cargo bikes, to access the Sydney Harbour Bridge route.

“Stairs and wheels don’t mix,” she said.

“I want to ensure taxpayers get value for money out of this project, so I want to see a comprehensive and thorough tender process play out, rather than rushing into construction.”

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