Oxford Street East Cycleway

Last Update:  12 November 2025

TfNSW releases “Revitalising Oxford Street”

More information has been released by TfNSW. Take a look at the Oxford Street Revitalisation Project Public Domain and Activation Strategy

Transport for NSW is proposing to revitalise Oxford Street through public space improvements and a new separated bike path. Overwhelming feedback from businesses and the community was varied. After consideration and amendments, the TfNSW plan aims to create greener spaces and improved streetscapes.

The Society and WMC continues opposition to the cycleway along Oxford Street. The Society prepared an alternative proposal in July 2023: OXFORD STREET PADDINGTON – The Village High Street as a Place for People

Last Update:  16 September 2025

Minister Rejects Petition to Halt Oxford Street East Cycleway

The NSW Minister for Transport, John Graham, has formally rejected a petition lodged in the Legislative Assembly seeking to discontinue the Oxford Street East Cycleway project.

The petition, tabled by Liberal MP Kellie Sloane on 5 August 2025 and signed by more than 500 people, called for the Government to abandon the 1.8-kilometre separated cycleway along Oxford St East linking Taylor Square to Centennial Park. 

In his response, Minister Graham reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the cycleway, framing it as a critical piece of Sydney’s active transport network and a broader plan to revitalise Oxford Street.

The Paddington Society Position

The Paddington Society notes the Minister’s response and the very minor Adjustments after Feedback to the Transport for NSW proposal. We welcome retention of the right hand turn from South Dowling Street onto Oxford Street, but it seems clear that the principles guiding the developing design will be otherwise unchanged.  

We therefore continue to support the objections of local businesses, other community groups and Woollahra Council to the existing proposal. 

Accessibility, Parking and Amenity

The Government’s response emphasised accessibility as a central priority. It said it is working with the Accessible Transport Advisory Committee, which represents more than 25 disability and older persons’ groups, to ensure the new design supports vulnerable users. Footpaths will be widened to provide more space for pedestrians accessing bus stops, shops and community facilities.

Transport for NSW also acknowledged concerns about parking and deliveries. It said that on-street parking and loading zones remain important for residents and local businesses and that any changes will be similar to current arrangements. Parking will be maintained on both sides of the street during off-peak hours to help ease demand on nearby residential streets.

Read the Minister’s response to the cycleway petition.

Read the Paddington Society alternative proposal: OXFORD STREET PADDINGTON – The Village High Street as a Place for People, also included in the 27 July, 2025 update below. 

Last Update: 27 July 2025

The first section of the Oxford Street Cycleway is now complete, linking Castlereagh Street to Taylor Square.

The proposed Oxford Street East Cycleway (OSEC) will be the next stage.

The newly completed stretch forms part of a broader cycling network connecting to Castlereagh, Liverpool, College and Bourke Streets, with a temporary continuation along Flinders Street and Moore Park Road. Oxford Street is already one of Sydney’s busiest bike routes, with the number expected to grow. The new cycleway aims to provide a safer route for those who already cycle this corridor, with better integration with the city’s active transport network.

While this is seen by some as a step forward in encouraging a sustainable active transport option, the changes have also prompted considerable debate. Oxford Street’s complex urban setting, heritage, character, and busy commercial environment on both sides, make it particularly challenging for infrastructure upgrades. Not all residents or businesses support the current design, and concerns have been raised about pedestrian safety, the physical and visual impacts of stainless-steel fence barriers, extremely lengthy bus stops, the broader negative effects on the public domain and the viability of businesses on both sides of the street.

The stated goal of the CoS is to make Oxford Street a more walkable, people-friendly destination, rather than just a traffic corridor. But many feel that this vision is still a work in progress and that the new changes reinforce the nature of the street as a traffic corridor for vehicles, cyclists and ever-increasing e-bike / e-scooter traffic. This project forms part of a broader plan to revitalise the precinct, including upgrades to public spaces, and development controls aimed at protecting heritage. Whether these efforts will strike the right balance remains to be seen, with particular concerns about the proposed next section of the cycleway along Oxford Street Paddington.

The proposed eastern section (OSEC) of the cycleway from Taylor Square to Centennial Park is to be delivered by Transport for NSW on the southern (CoS side) of Oxford Street. Woollahra Council, on the northern side, does not support the continuation of OSEC along the eastern part of Oxford Street Paddington. The Paddington Society agrees with Council’s view.

• We support the objections of other community groups and WMC to the TfNSW proposal for the bi-directional cycleway on Oxford St East, removal of right hand turns to both north and south, reduction of bus stop numbers and lengthy island bus stops.
• We support cycling and cyclists, but in accordance with TfNSW own policy, we prioritise pedestrians, their safety and amenity.
• Oxford Street Paddington is an active and vibrant village high street, with commercial premises and community activity on both sides.
• The sunny southern side of Oxford Street is home to three churches, Paddington Public School, Paddington Markets, green spaces large and small, many businesses including outdoor cafes.
• The TfNSW proposal will compromise safe pedestrian access to all of the above premises, spaces and activities, reduce cross street pedestrian usage and the scope for landscaping and enhancement of the street.
• Oxford Street should be reinforced as a vibrant village high street.

Last Update: 13 May 2025

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported on Paddington Residents legal action over the proposed cycleway.

Two Paddington residents are ramping up their fight to divert a contentious cycleway along Oxford Street, launching legal action against the state government and the City of Sydney council alleging the project breaches human rights laws by discriminating against elderly people and those with a disability.

Last Update: 6 February 2025

A petition has been developed requesting that Oxford Street East Cycleway (OSEC) be discontinued. When closed the petition will be presented to the Legislative Assembly for debate by Kellie Sloane (Member for Vaucluse).

The petition is ititled “Discontinuation of the Oxford Street East Cycleway (OSEC) project to build a primary cycleway link between Taylor Square and Centennial Park”.

Last Update: 18 December 2024

Transport for NSW has updated the cycleway news to read…

Thank you for providing your feedback and ideas for Oxford Street East. The latest stage of consultation has closed and we’re reviewing all the feedback we’ve received, including over 1,100 survey submissions. Feedback from the consultation is informing the Oxford Street East Public Domain and Activation Strategy.

Last Update: 2 July, 2024

The proposed Oxford Street East Cycleway, located on the south side of Oxford Street, is meant to provide the “missing link” between the CBD and Bondi Junction. The Society supports the promotion of cycling in general but believes that the “missing link” need not go along Oxford Street East.

Read the TfNSW Oxford Street East Cycleway Consultation Report (PDF, 11.73 MB), which includes our response.

The Society has a different vision for Oxford Street Paddington. The Society continues to work with stakeholders including Transport NSW, the City of Sydney Council plus local businesses and residents to ensure an outcome that is best for Paddington.

The Oxford Street East Cycleway Project proposes a separated two-way cycleway on the south side of Oxford Street between Paddington Gates and Taylor Square.

This cycleway is being promoted as a high-priority missing link between Bondi Junction and the CBD.

Transport NSW states:

The Oxford Street East Cycleway will deliver a 1.8-kilometre separated cycleway on Oxford Street to create a safer, more convenient route for bike riders between the Eastern Suburbs and Sydney CBD.

See TfNSW Oxford Street East Cycleway website for more information.

The Society supports the promotion of cycling in general but believes that Oxford Street East should remain a place for people.

In late 2023, the Society proposed the concept ‘The Village High Street as a Place for People’. This was prepared to open eyes to the bigger picture of Paddington Village, recognise the needs of pedestrians and business operators in a High Street environment, and to draw attention to the detrimental effects of a segregated two-way dedicated cycleway, passing through a Village Centre.

This whole village concept takes into account the needs of all user groups to unify and invigorate Oxford Street as the centre of Paddington. At a time when society is reconsidering its approach to energy, sustainability and community, we believe this proposal demands very strong consideration.

We believe that the “missing link” does not have to be in Oxford Street East but should instead go down Moore Park Road, as proposed by The Three Saints Square Group and known as Plan C – The Integrated Paddington Plan.

The Plan C Proposal includes a separate, dedicated cycleway on Moore Park Road and shared lane cycling on Oxford Street as currently exists and includes;

• A reduced speed limit
• Right-hand turns retained
• Current bus stops on footpaths are retained
• Footpath improvements matching already existing in Paddington and Darlinghurst

The Plan C proposal was developed by The Three Saints Square Project and complements the Society’s proposal that allows the full development of Oxford Street as a High Street, from Centennial Park through to Taylor Square whilst providing a dedicated bikeway in the location preferred, at an earlier stage, by both The City of Sydney and BikEast and the current route of the temporary cycleway.

The separated cycleway would be aligned along Moore Park Road and Flinders Street and provide an express route to the city, allowing recreational cyclists the option of an alternative route along Oxford Street with reduced traffic speed.

This will allow the High Street (Oxford Street) to be improved to benefit the greater users of the Paddington Village Centre, the people on foot as described in The Paddington Society proposal including the widening of footpaths especially on the sunny southern side. Plan C also envisages a similar treatment in the Three Saints precinct, with the potential for outdoor dining on extended footpaths between South Dowling Street and Taylor Square.

Other benefits for Paddington, of Plan C, include the retention of all existing right-hand turns, and the retention of bus stops at kerb providing safety for all transport users.

During 2023 it was also announced that Woollahra Councillors reversed their previous position to support the proposed cycleway.. This supported the Society’s position which puts people and place first (in line with TfNSW’s own stated policy) ahead of cyclists, and proposes that Oxford Street be thought of primarily as a High Street and Village Centre. Around this time the contentious plan to deliver the cycleway on Oxford St which is one of Sydney’s busiest roads was called into question with the federal government’s $3.7m contribution off the table.

In December 2023 a group of community organisations including Business Partnership Paddington, The Paddington Society, Queen Street & West Woollahra Association and Three Saints Square Project together with Darlinghurst, Paddington and Woollahra community members wrote to Minister Jo Haylen to express concerns with the current proposal.

The Paddington Society will continue to support Oxford Street Paddington as being a place for people and not just a through corridor for vehicles and all other traffic.

Human Rights Commission Complaint – Island Bus Stops and the Oxford Street Cycleway

The SMH recently reported that six Paddington residents have lodged a formal complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission centred on the island bus stops, which are part of the design of the cycleway; the complaint is based on the grounds that they discriminate against elderly and disabled pedestrians. They believe that aspects of the design will compromise the safety of people who are disabled or older and less mobile, and are in breach of two federal Acts: the Disability Discrimination Act and the Age Discrimination Act. If members and friends would like to comment or find out more, please email Michael Waterhouse.

The Paddington Society maintains that a 2-way separated cycleway would be better located on the parallel route of Moore Park Road and that the busy Oxford Street High Street proposal prioritises cyclist safety over pedestrian safety.