Wollongong City Council is on the last leg of the Smith Street pop-up cycleway works but some residents still remain concerned.
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A number of parents of Wollongong Public School students say they still fear for their children's safety following changes to the street in the heart of the city's CBD.
The eastern end of Smith Street is set to transition to a one-way road in early April.
Last month Smith Street resident and school parent John Connors told the Mercury the council was adopting a "crazy environmental ideology" to pander to cyclists without taking into account the "real community needs here".
Mr Connors reiterated those views on Thursday, adding he was particularly worried about where parents could drop and pick up their kids.
A council spokesman said families of students at the school, returning after the school holidays, will still be able to access the kiss and drop area on the southern side of Smith Street, near Church Street.
But Mr Connors argued this option was unsafe.
"At the moment cars are stopping on the right-hand side and kids are hopping out of the car on the wrong side of the road, straight into traffic," he said.
"Kids are automatically getting out of the car on the left-hand side into traffic. I'm seriously concerned for their welfare.
"I'm just concerned the council hasn't thought through this project and there could be a serious accident."
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said most of the work will have little impact on family drop-off and pick-up for students as a large portion of work will be done during the school holidays.
"However, once school goes back, we'll have traffic control in place for the first week to help drivers come to grips with the new layout," Cr Bradbery said.
"In the meantime, we know that school holidays mean that there will be lots of people travelling to and from our beaches and outdoor spaces. We ask all drivers to continue to follow the road rules, slow down around high pedestrian areas and plan your trip ahead of time."
Having completed the cycleway works on the western end of Smith Street, the council is set to roll out the next stage of works after the Easter long weekend.
From Wednesday, April 7, the area east of the Kembla St roundabout along Smith Street will transition to a one-way street. This will allow the council to create a separated cycleway on the southern side of Smith Street.
There will also be works to convert a section of Harbour Street, between Smith St and Cliff Rd, to an on-road cycleway.
Seven parking spaces along the north-west side of Harbour Street will be removed to facilitate this change.
Weather permitting, the works along both Smith and Harbour streets will be completed by the end of April.
Cr Bradbery said that this project was part of Council's ongoing commitment to deliver improved cycling infrastructure as outlined in Council's Cycling Strategy 2030.
"We understand that some of these changes will take time to get used to, especially for drivers who infrequently travel through the Wollongong CBD," he said.
"These works are an important step towards improving cycling access throughout Wollongong by providing more active transport opportunities for people of all cycling abilities.
"Our goal is to make it easier and more appealing for people to use a bike to travel across our city."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
