Four new shared pathways in the city - one on busy Bourke Street at North Wollongong - are on the drawing board of Wollongong City Council.
All four pathways will run on the footpath rather than on the roads, though the changes will see more than 20 parking spaces lost.
The Bourke Street path is proposed to run along the southern side of the street, from the Corrimal Street intersection down to the Princes Highway.
A second pathway will run along the western side of Virginia Street with a pedestrian crossing set up on Squires Way to allow pedestrians and cyclists to link up to the existing path.
A second crossing would be created at the intersection with George Hanley Drive.
Another will run along Reserve Street between Robsons Road and Gilmore Street, then linking with a new northbound pathway on Gilmore Street, which will join an existing pathway.
A council spokesperson said the Bourke and Virginia streets pathway will make it easier for people to travel between North Wollongong train station, Stuart Park and North Wollongong beach.
The Reserve and Gilmore street pathways will make crossing the road safer and improve access for people to walk and ride to Gilmore Park and the tennis courts.
"This will also create a more complete link from Robson Road to Throsby Drive, and on to Flinders and Smith Street to the harbour as a set of shared use paths and cycleways," the spokesperson said.
Establishing the new shared path connection on Squires Way and building the two new crossings will see around 15 car spaces removed along George Hanley Drive and Squires Way.
No stopping signs will be installed near the new pedestrian refuge on Virginia Street, which will remove four parking spaces on Virginia Street.
Six parking spaces will be lost as a result of the Reserve and Gilmore streets works - four in Gilmore Street and two in Reserve Street.
A total of 12 trees will be removed to build the pathways, with compensatory plantings in Stuart Park and Gilmore Park.
Construction on the Reserve, Gilmore and Virginia street pathways is planned for early next year, taking approximately 14 weeks to finish.
The work on Bourke Street would start in the 2024-25 financial year.
The plans for the shared pathways are open for public feedback until November 8.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
