The Active Way has been designed as an integrated movement and place project, combining a high-quality separated cycleway with improvements to walking, landscaping, public spaces and the surrounding streetscape.

The design approach is to provide a route that is safe, connected, direct, comfortable, attractive and adaptable, while also contributing to Council’s broader goals for a greener, more connected, inclusive, liveable and vibrant city. This means the project is not simply about providing cycling infrastructure, but about improving how people move through and experience Hampden Road and Herbert Street.

The design responds to both the movement function of the corridor and the character of the places it passes through, so that new infrastructure is integrated with the existing environment rather than treated as a stand-alone transport element.

Within the Artarmon and St Leonards Local Centres, the design provides a higher level of public-domain finish while responding to the distinct character of each centre. In Artarmon, the design responds to the Artarmon Local Centre Masterplan, including feature paving on both sides of the centre, upgraded landscaping and a new pocket park that reinforces the surrounding village character. In St Leonards, the design responds to the existing urban context, with feature paving, landscaping and a new pocket park designed to create a more comfortable and attractive place for people to stop, meet and spend time.

The new Punch Street park will be designed to respond to its immediate surroundings, creating a greener and more inviting public space along the route. With seating, shade and landscaping, it will provide a comfortable place for cyclists, pedestrians, local workers and visitors to rest, have lunch, meet and spend time.

Across the broader corridor, a consistent streetscape identity will be created through coordinated planting, cycleway line marking and wayfinding signage, complemented by new street trees, native planting, rain gardens, new lighting at pedestrian crossings, wider footpaths and other public-space improvements.

Together, these elements create a coordinated transport and public-domain outcome that improves safety and accessibility, strengthens connections between Chatswood, Artarmon and St Leonards, supports local centres and businesses, increases urban greening and creates a stronger sense of place along Hampden

The route forms part of Transport for NSW's Greater Sydney Strategic Cycleway Corridor supported by Transport for NSW's Future Transport 2056 Strategy and Active Transport Strategy. It completes a vital missing link in the broader cycling network, connecting local residents to transport interchanges such as Chatswood and Artarmon stations, and to major employment and health precincts in St Leonards and the Gore Hill Cycleway.

The Hampden Road and Herbert Street corridor was also identified as the preferred route in Council's Chatswood to St Leonards Principal Bike Network Study in 2020, which compared a rail-corridor alignment against a road-corridor alignment. Hampden Road and Herbert Street were confirmed as the preferred option because they provide the most direct route with the lowest change in elevation, while alternative alignments required longer detours and steep, sustained climbs. The route is also identified as a priority in previous Council's Bike Plan 2012 and Willoughby City Council Cycling Strategy 2036.

Yes. The Chatswood to St Leonards Active Way forms part of Transport for NSW's Strategic Cycleway Corridors Greater Sydney program, which provides a framework for safe, convenient and connected cross-city cycling routes linking key centres, precincts and places across Greater Sydney. The program has a 20-year vision to progressively deliver a continuous, integrated cycling network.

Locally, the project will connect with Willoughby City Council's existing network, including the Mowbray Road shared cycleway, the Pacific Highway shared cycleway between St Leonards and Mowbray Road, the Francis Street and Cleg Street on-road cycleways, the Frederick Street shared cycleway and the Gore Hill Cycleway. Future connections are also planned with the adjoining networks of Lane Cove Council and North Sydney Council, further strengthening regional link

An independent Parking Study, prepared in line with Council's Street Parking Strategy Framework, assessed parking supply and demand across the corridor and surrounding streets.
Key findings include:

• 145 on-street parking spaces would be removed along the Hampden Road and Herbert Street corridor to allow for the separated cycleway, safer crossings and wider footpaths.

• 53 new on-street angled parking spaces would be created where space allows, largely enabled by the road reconstruction the project requires.

• The net change across the corridor is a reduction of 92 spaces.

• Across the wider 1,783-space study area (corridor plus surrounding streets), the net change is a reduction of around 5% of total supply, and even at the busiest time surveyed, 35% of spaces (624) remained free.

• Essential parking, including accessible spaces, loading zones and pick-up/drop-off bays are retained. Where these essential spaces must be relocated, a like-for-like replacement is identified nearby.

Council will continue to investigate further opportunities to minimise the loss of on-street parking, or to increase the amount of new parking provided, to help offset any loss as the design is refined.

You can find more information in the Parking Study Community Information Sheet, available on the Have Your Say webpage.

A detailed Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) has assessed the operational impacts of the concept design on the surrounding road network, including intersection performance, delay, access, parking, loading and servicing.

Modelling indicates traffic operations will largely remain consistent with existing conditions, with a single general traffic lane retained in each direction along most of the corridor. Most intersections are expected to retain their current level of service, however Council will monitor network operations over time to manage any changes in travel behaviour.

You can find more information in the Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA), available on the Have Your Say webpage

A 400-metre distance is one of the most widely used benchmarks in transport and urban planning, based on the distance most people will comfortably walk before considering driving instead. Walkability research consistently finds that pedestrian trip-making falls sharply once a walk exceeds about 400 to 500 metres.

Across the wider 1,783-space study area, even at the single busiest half-hour recorded across the whole study, 35% of all spaces (624) remained free, indicating capacity exists within this walkable distance to help absorb parking changes on the corridor itself. For people with mobility needs, accessible parking is treated separately and protected as essential parking (see the question above on accessible parking).

You can find more information in the Parking Study Community Information Sheet, available on the Have Your Say webpage.

A separated cycleway is a cycle path that is physically distanced from moving traffic and, in most sections, from pedestrians — using kerbs, landscaped medians, planting beds rather than a painted line. This type of infrastructure is widely recognised as increasing safety for bicycle riders, pedestrians and other road users, because it removes bicycle riders from the traffic lane instead of relying on riders and drivers to share the same space. It is the preferred treatment on busier roads under Transport for NSW's Cycleway Design Toolbox.

Yes. Beyond improvements for bike riding, the project delivers benefits for people walking too. It includes wider, continuous footpaths, upgraded and raised pedestrian crossings at more locations along the corridor, and improved lighting. Research shows that these elements are the top factors in people's decisions to walk more.

Council's Community Wellbeing Survey 2023 found strong demand for walking, with residents saying they'd like to walk more than they currently do.

More broadly, the project will also create greener, more attractive streets, including streetscape upgrades within the St Leonards and Artarmon local centres, new feature paving, new pocket parks (including a new park on Punch Street), and extensive landscaping with new street trees, native planting beds and rain gardens.

These upgrades are expected to increase tree canopy, improve accessibility for people of all ages and abilities, including those walking, using mobility aids or prams, and support local businesses through a higher-quality public domain, improved amenity and a stronger sense of place.

Yes. Council has engaged the community on this project in two earlier stages.
In June to July 2020, Council consulted on the draft concept design through an online survey, a webinar with live Q&A, an education video. In total, 99 responses were received, with around 90% of responses being supportive or highly supportive of the project.

In May to July 2021, Council consulted on the detailed design, including an updated Have Your Say webpage, a further online survey, an interactive map allowing participants to pin comments to specific locations, and a webinar. This second round received 23 responses, with most respondents supportive of the design.

Since then, Transport for NSW has released updated active transport design guidance, prompting Council to review and refine the concept design. This revised design, supported by an updated Traffic Impact Assessment, Parking Study and Design Report is now being presented for a further, dedicated round of community consultation