New shared pedestrian and bike path along the Pearl Bay foreshore, Sydney

Locals in Sydney’s North are looking forward to the completion of a new shared pedestrian and bike path along the Pearl Bay foreshore in Mosman, funded under the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.

The two distinct paths begin just past Sydney’s Spit Bridge, and run for approximately 850 metres along the Pearl Bay foreshore to Pearl Bay Avenue, where there is an alternate quieter route for cyclists to the city via the back streets of North Sydney.

John Heptonstall of Mosman Municipal Council explained that locals are very happy with the new paths project, particularly since construction works began in June.

“A lot of people didn’t really know what it was going to look like until they started to see all the elements go in, and there has been positive feedback,” said John.

“Up until now I don’t think the reserve has been used to the extent that it could have been.”

John explained that not only will the new path provide greater safety for cyclists and pedestrians, but the area will also become more open and user friendly for families, and recreational use.

“It will be a recreational pathway as well, we get a lot of families down here,” explained John.

“We will now have an area where people can use and walk along the foreshore without falling over all the unevenness that was here before.”

The new path project is running in parallel with Mosman Council’s foreshore seawall works project, also currently underway, providing protection for the seawall and the habitat.

The seawall works have been part of a plan the Council has had for a number of years to include the rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading of the wall, and the establishment of new habitats for marine flora and fauna.

“This project has been planned for many years, but it was never going to be this big in scope, and in the impact that this will have,” explained John.

“I was actually assessing the tenders and looking at the costs and realising we were going to have to cut some of the works to balance the budget and this just enabled us to have the little bit extra to give us the ability to do it all.”

“What the Federal funding has allowed us to do is to put a bit more focus on the footpath and the bike path, and do something that is a bit more comprehensive,” said John.

“The funding has allowed us to keep the works that we wanted to have in the project, because we were looking to have to cut back on some of the less obviously necessary parts of the project, and that would have been a bit of a loss.”

The final elements of the new path are now underway, and it is expected to be complete and ready for use by mid-November. 

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