Motorists may have noticed a number of changes to some of Wollongong's major intersections in recent weeks, as the city prepares to shut down its roads for next months UCI bike race.
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At several locations across the CBD and inner suburbs, existing kerbs and traffic islands at intersections have been removed and replaced with a temporary orange bollard system.
Most of this work, which is designed to make it easier for cyclists to manoeuvre the UCI course, will be reversed and restored to the intersections' original condition after the race.
According to Wollongong 2022, this traffic infrastructure has to be removed to allow the races to operate safely and establish a "field of play" for the cyclists that meets UCI regulations.
This reduces the risk of incident during the race, when the cyclists are expected to reach speeds of up to 100km/h.
During race week, the orange markers and temporary infrastructure will be removed after the roads are closed each day before the races commence, and then reinstated after each race and before the roads are reopened to public traffic, Wollongong 2022 said.
The markers have been installed at Mount Ousley Road, Gipps Street in Gwynneville and at various locations near the beach in Wollongong and North Wollongong.
Council workers have also been removing pedestrian islands and speed humps along the UCI course at places like Cliff Road and George Hanley Drive, and completing road renewal and upgrade projects.
The council said the construction works were "designed to make sure our roads are in top condition and meet UCI regulations ahead of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships".
"The orange markers and bumpers are temporary traffic devices that mimic the islands and traffic facilities that were temporarily removed ahead of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships," a council spokesperson said.
"After the race, most of these temporary changes will soon return to pre-UCI conditions."
Ratepayers will foot the bill for the majority of the UCI road projects, with the remainder paid for through funding from the Commonwealth Government, NSW Government, Wollongong2022 and Council.
"Most of the road works have been funded through Council's existing Infrastructure Delivery Program, and delivered to our original schedule or brought forward ahead of the race," the spokesperson said.
"Where we can, we have looked for ways to leverage the 2022 UCI Road World Championships as an opportunity to look at key locations that are ideal for long-term, legacy upgrades.
"We will seek community input on how we can turn some of these road works into long-term solutions that improve traffic and pedestrian access after the race is over."
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