Blue line – the proposed pathway

Red line – what is currently possible

There have been calls for many years for a Harbour Walk around Blackwattle Bay. A circular walk around the whole bay for pedestrians and cyclists would be an attractive and much needed active transport route. We have seen recently the desire of the community to walk, run and cycle and the more attractive that pathway is, the more it will be used.

The Bay Run around the Bay of Drummoyne and Leichhardt has been so popular and crowded during the Covid-19 lockdown that the Mayors of Inner West and Canada Bay Councils were asking people to stay away and even had rangers turning people away. So why aren’t there proper plans for a walkway around Blackwattle Bay?

There is a walkway from Bi-centennial Park on the foreshore of Annandale to Pyrmont Bridge Road in Glebe. This walkway/cycle way is very well used and popular. There are plans, still very much in the formative stages for that walk to continue through the new Fishmarkets and other proposed buildings to under the Anzac Bridge but there are important missing links.

Glebe Island Bridge, heritage listed but unused and neglected, permanently open so the million dollar boats parked at the Super Marina can easily get in and out should be returned to operation so it can once again be opened and closed and used as a pedestrian/cycling pathway joining Pyrmont and Rozelle/Balmain. Presently someone walking or cycling is required to take a winding route onto and off Anzac Bridge which is less than peaceful.

On getting to the other side of the Anzac Bridge, the walkway presently travels along James Craig Drive when it could hug the waterfront by travelling past the Maritime Services building and Super Yacht Marina, heading back beside the Crescent on the waterfront to Bi-Centennial Park.

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Were the Glebe Island Bridge to be restored and renovated so it can open and close, it would also provide a much needed walking / cycling link to Rozelle and Balmain. Presently it is a heritage listed bridge heading toward demolition by neglect. Why is it not being restored and used? One can’t help but wonder if it is the influence of the super yacht marina with their millions of dollars worth of boats that prefer the convenience of a permanently open bridge for when they decide to take their big boats out.

It is time Government started to take action to create more active transport routes and Blackwattle Bay circuit is an obvious one.