We recently met with representatives of The Walking Volunteers, a group dedicated to identifying walking, mapping and producing walking maps for Sydneysiders and visitors. They were interested in the WalkConnex and BikeConnex map posted earlier this year. (The WalkConnex part), and of course have their own ideas.

You will recall the WalkConnex and BikeConnex map (first release version) looks like this:

W – Walk/Bike Corridors

• W1 – Great North Walk
• W2 – Sydney Harbour HighLine
• W3 – Great West Walk and Blue Mountain separated Cycleway
• W4 –  Parramatta to Sydney Foreshore walk  (including Concord to the Bay Cycleway, Five Dock Boardwalk, The Bay Run. Improve walking/bike riding connection from Bay Run to new Metro station at Five Dock) 
• W5 – Olympic Park to Lidcombe/Homebush and Pippita Rail Trail
• W6 – Iron Cove Creek and connection in-between Elizabeth Street / Grosvenor Cr Ashfield / Summer Hill to be east-west walking / bike connection between Greenway and Iron Cove Creek
• W7 – Midtown Greenway (Hawthorne Canal to Cooks River) 
• W8 – Lidcombe to Bexley
• W9 – Rozelle Bay – Coogee. [Johnston’s Creek/Missenden Road/Bucknell Street/Burren Street/Erskineville Road/Copeland Street/Erskineville Oval / Ashmore Connector (Bowden Street/Geddes Street) /Epsom Road to Lethal Street to UNSW High Street to Coogee Bay Road to Pacific Ocean] [ including Ashmore Connector ]
• W10 – Sutherland to Cronulla

They write

“We strongly support the idea of a network of walking routes throughout Greater Sydney but we strongly urge WalkSydney to produce two separate maps – WalkConnex for walkers and BikeConnex for cyclists. The needs of these two groups are different. However, there will be overlap between the two maps where shared paths are used by cyclists and walkers but we should not deter any walkers from using a particular route because of their fear of a cycle accident. A survey conducted in Victoria a few years ago indicated that more people over 60 were frightened of an accident with a bicycle than a car! “

An example of a stand-alone WalkConnex could look like this:

Note that these routes incorporate W1, W2, W4 and W7 from your original map and provide alternatives to W5, W8 and W9. When our route around Sutherland Shire has been approved by land managers it would provide an alternative to W10.

If the local loops and links we have proof-walked were included around major employment centre like the CBD, North Sydney, Chatswood, Bondi Junction and Parramatta they would provide walking commuters with several routes into those employment centres (see below).

There are many potential routes, and we look forward to continued discussion, and hopefully implementation and improvements to these routes.