Awsome news that the Coastal Walk from Bondi to Coogee is to be upgraded and extended to Maroubra and possibly all the way down to Botany Bay. By MARK SCALA Daily Telegraph - January 06, 2006 SOME of Sydney's most impressive coastal views will be opened to the public under a plan for cliff-top boardwalks around private properties which have kept them hidden. An artist's impression of the boardwalk at Waverley cemetery. The Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk will come closer to being joined under Randwick City Council plans to build boardwalks around three tracts of private land, along with a bike route. Plans are expected to go to council in March for cantilevered boardwalks around cliff-top properties between South Coogee and Maroubra, due for completion in July. Work will also begin in June on a $1.3 million boardwalk bypassing Waverley Cemetery, with Waverley City Council releasing an image of the planned upgrade. The plans are on display until the end of February. The coast walk from Bondi to Maroubra attracts 700,000 people a year but stalls near Alexandria St, South Coogee, where walkers are forced on to the road to avoid privately owned land. It is not until Marine Parade at Mistral Point, near Maroubra Beach, that the coastal path resumes. At the cemetery, walkers are forced on to a narrow, degraded path through the gravesites – with many historic graves being damaged from people passing through. A bicycle path will also be built under the plans, with the proposed route taking cyclists along Coogee and Maroubra beaches. Randwick Mayor Ted Seng said the coastal cycle route – which would link Botany Bay and Clovelly – would be implemented in stages, with formal planning to begin later this year. Lanes would be dedicated to cyclists, with the coastal route to form part of a 20-year plan to improve cycling routes across the council area. "The cycleway would be a separate project to the extension of the coastal walkway and the two would remain separate pathways," he said. It is also planned to extend the coastal walk past Maroubra to Botany Bay. Bicycle NSW chief executive officer Alex Unwin said Sydney cycling infrastructure lagged behind that of other major Australian cities. He said the safety provided by dedicated paths encouraged people to use bikes as a form of transport. "In Sydney cycling is not growing nearly as fast as it is in cities where cycling infrastructure has grown," he said. He said projects like the cycleway on the newly opened M7 should be encouraged, with a need to provide alternative transport. Mood: --->

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