SHARKBUG SADDLE SURVEY

Sutherland Shire Bicycle Network

Engadine, Heathcote & Woronora Area

Proposed Principal Bicycle Network	Proposed Local/Recreational Network
Princes Hwy	Wilson Pde Heathcote
Old Princes Hwy Engadine	The Avenue Heathcote
Banksia Ave Engadine	Anzac Av Engadine
Dubarda St Engadine	Forbes Ck
Anzac Oval / Engadine Park	Loftus Creek
Woronora Rd Engadine	Sydney Water Rd Engadine
Cooriengah Heights Rd Engadine
Bundanoon Rd Woronora Heights
Lantana Rd Engadine
Cambrai Ave Engadine
Kingswood Rd Engadine
Thorpe Rd Woronora
Station St Engadine

Proposed Principal Bicycle Network

Princes Hwy

Good grade and surface.

Wide shoulders provide good cycling from Loftus to Yarrawarrah and south of Heathcote. Between Yarrawarrah and Heathcote stencils indicate cyclists should use the leftmost traffic lane. This lane also carries high speed cars and trucks, particularly in the vicinity of the right turn into Anzac Ave southbound. Parking both sides of highway at Engadine station does not leave sufficient width to ride in left hand lane (Figure 1) without encroaching on centre lane

Old Bush Rd intersection Northbound has left hand turn arrow lamp – needs forward holding area in centre lane.

At Heathcote Rd intersection northbound there is marked space beside the splitter island which leads cyclists into the slip lane for left turning Heathcote Rd traffic. This forces cyclists to merge again with the traffic at the end of the slip lane in a high speed environment.

Figure 1 - Parking on Princes Hwy at Engadine station

Old Princes Hwy Engadine

Confusing combination of lane marking northbound at pedestrian crossing adjacent to the Community Transport pool, immediately before Stephen St roundabout (Figure 2). The pedestrian crossing and roundabout both serve as squeeze points. At the first it is clearly marked the cyclists have there own space, but it is not immediately obvious they have to merge prior to the roundabout. Clarification is required.

Figure 2 - Old Princes Hwy Northbound at Stephen St roundabout

Woronora Rd roundabout is rather wide and thus too high speed, but visibility good.

Poor signposting (missing signs) makes navigation difficult.

Retail area busy, but relatively safe with 10km/h shared zone. Needs bike parking.

Banksia Ave Engadine

Mild squeeze at school crossing

Roundabout tight and low speed.

Dubarda St Engadine

Poor sightlines to the east when crossing Anzac Av at Dubarda St to Anzac Oval due to a slight crest, particularly for short (child) cylists. Suggest crossing should be one or two houses west of Dubarda St connected by a shared footpath along south side of Anzac Ave.

Anzac Oval / Engadine Park

Current track is in the form of poorly defined wheel ruts in the grass (Figure 3), punctuated by deep drains (Figure 4). The northern end is overshadowed by large Eucalypts and would require regular maintenance.

A dropped curb is required at Achilles Rd.

Figure 3 - Anzac Oval track

Figure 4 - Anzac Oval grates Figure 5- Anzac Oval maintenance issues

Woronora Rd Engadine

Extremely steep, particularly in the unsealed section north of the gate down Sabagul Gully (dropping 100m in 500m).

Cooriengah Heights Rd Engadine

Slotted grates.

Multiple curves with limited width and tendency for cars to cut corners.

Bundanoon Rd Woronora Heights

Stretch between Woronora Heights and North Engadine is narrow with rough shoulders. As there are no houses along this stretch, there is a tendency for cars to speed. On the east side of this section there is a new wide footpath on which I have seen children riding.

Extension north to The Crescent Woronora past locked gate is sealed.

Northern exit from Cooriengah Heights Rd roundabout squeezed by splitter island.

Cambrai Ave Engadine

Anzac Ave roundabout multilane with dedicated left turn lane on northern approach necessitates riding in right lane.

Crossing at Woolworths a squeeze, but generally low speed. Crossing near Chipilly has cycle lanes.

Cyclists excepted from No Right Hand Turn into Old Princes Hwy

Lantana Rd Engadine

Southbound curve at Achilles Rd intersection frequently encroached by vehicles (Figure 6). A marked bike lane at this point might reduce this.

Figure 6 - Curve encroached

Kingswood Rd Engadine

Steep between Geneva Pl and Fermo Rd. Suggest Warilda Ave as alternative route with better grade and less traffic.

Beyond the locked gate the firetrail is extremely steep with a loose surface only suitable for experienced MTB cyclists until north of Forbes Ck. The new bridge over Forbes Ck now makes crossing straightforward.

Thorpe Rd Woronora

Access difficult around gate. Trail south of gate unsealed but very pleasant cycling on easy grades until excellent new bridge over Forbes Ck.

Station St Engadine

Angle parking fortunately rear-to-curb. Need higher security parking at station – preferably lockers, but at least closer coverage by one of the many security cameras (recent theives have not been identifiable on the images)

Proposed Local/Recreational Network

Wilson Pde Heathcote

The railway bridge is narrow, but replacement work appears to be underway. The westbound approach to Princes Hwy benefits from roadmarkings permitting right turns from the left lane.

The western shoulder is extremely rough.

The Avenue Heathcote

A pleasant ride with good surface.

Slotted grates, but width sufficient not to be riding in the curb.

Anzac Av Engadine

Pedestrian island between Dernacourt Av and Tobruk Av produces a squeeze point, but as this is at bottom of dip cyclists are travelling at a similar speed to cars so passing is not necessary.

Multi-lane entry to Cambrai Av roundabout unpleasant.

Steep hills makes this a secondary route compared with Cambrai/Old Princes Hwy.

Forbes Ck

North of Wollybutt Rd access is easy along tennis courts driveway. Narrow roadway relatively safe as rough surface keeps traffic speeds down.

Signposted cycle track is useless as its small size makes it only suitable for the smallest of beginner cyclists, but for them the surface is too cracked.

South of Wollybutt there is currently only a narrow footpad (Figure 7) on the western side of the creek, barely rideable on an MTB. It is crossed by a small watercourse which requires dismounting.

Figure 7 - Forbes Ck path south of Wollybutt Rd

Loftus Creek

Joins Dobell Rd Oval to North Engadine and Woronora.

Not too difficult ride on moderate grade unsealed road. Several fords (Figure 8) which are almost non-existent in the current drought. Last crossing before Kingswood Rd requires dismounting and signposting as track also continues north on east side of creek.

Figure 8 - Ford over Loftus Creek	Figure 9 - Loftus Creek at Kingswood Rd

Sydney Water Rd Engadine

Currently there are signs warning of fines for trespassing on Sydney water land expressly mentioning bicycles. This is reinforced by substantial gates. It is not possible to go around the gates, but they are only ~1m high, so lifting over them is an option for most cyclists.

Generally pipeline and accompanying road are at a grade feasable to cycle. In some instances the road cannot follow the pipeline. In a number of places the draft map is incorrect. For example the road does not cross Woronora Rd as the valley is too steep to the west. It is also a steep drop from the saddle of Bundanoon Rd (the water pipe tunnels deep beneath the road) so the road detours to Kelton Place. The link from Ferntree Rd is to the south rather than east.

18 November 2002