Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

thomashouseman wrote:

Boognoss wrote:Note that it's still currently westbound ONLY that is closed. Eastbound is still open for now but will close at some stage this year.

Is eastbound still open? We've now moved! Caught the bus today but keen to get back on the bike.

Thanks,
T.

Sure is (for now). There's still no evidence of the works being done further west of the eastbound offramp at Pennant Hills Rd which is what will cause the eastbound closure.

Where'd you move to?

Boognoss wrote:Where'd you move to?

From the Olympic Park Fujitsu building to the Macquarie Park Fujitsu building.

p.s. Eastbound is the morning (5am-ish) Brrrgh! Why can't it have been Westbound?!

Soft, I know!

That's good timing for when you'll be detouring up North Rocks Rd though if you go on the official detour. Minimal traffic at least.

Eastbound closed to cyclists as of Mon Sept 19, according to the big variable signs today....

A friend told me today and I didn't spot a thing this morning . Tomorrow I'll keep an eye out, but I could see that the amount of equipment building up on the side of the M2 in this section is increasing.

Boognoss wrote:A friend told me today and I didn't spot a thing this morning . Tomorrow I'll keep an eye out, but I could see that the amount of equipment building up on the side of the M2 in this section is increasing.

Can confirm, saw this today !

The "good" news is that according to an email update from Northconnex that I received about the closure, it commences at 9pm on Monday night. Time for a last hurrah commute citybound in the morning at least. I spotted two of the mobile signs advertising it today and it was on the fixed signs yesterday that I saw.

So I'm just setting up a route in my GPS, assuming the eastbound detour is the same route as already exists westbound? Hillier eastbound I suppose

Why is the eastbound shoulder going to close? I'm not up to speed on the roadworks in progress...

march83 wrote:Why is the eastbound shoulder going to close? I'm not up to speed on the roadworks in progress...

Monday night (two days ago) unfortunately. I drove the M2 yesterday morning and nothing had been done by way of barriers, etc yet but it's officially out of bounds now for the 2 or so years.

but what are they actually doing?

march83 wrote:but what are they actually doing?

Adding extra lanes I think.

thomashouseman wrote:

march83 wrote:but what are they actually doing?

Adding extra lanes I think.

Westbound yes, an extra lane that comes out of the North Connex tunnel south/west bound and goes as far as Windsor Rd. The old 3 lanes to 2 at Pennant Hills Rd offramp bottleneck ain't changing....

Eastbound they're bringing the Pennant Hills offramp further west to allow for a ramp for Pennant Hills Rd and another for the North Connex tunnel. Only a short section will be affected most likely but at a point where they can't maintain the shoulder with barriers, construction equipment and so on (I may have spent some work time reviewing the environmental impact statement documents )

cyclist down on the M2-Epping Road exit this afternoon (just after Beecroft tunnel, westbound) after touching wheels with another rider.

ride safely guys and remember to keep a safe distance and gap at all times especially at onramps and offramps..

Ok, I'm missing my riding too much. I need to start it again. How long (with the detour) does it take to ride from the M2/M7 Abbott Rd exit to the Macquarie Park exit? Is the big dipper detour horribly horrible? Would it be okay at 5:30am? Worse on the return (AT) 3pm?

Thanks,
T.

thomashouseman wrote:Ok, I'm missing my riding too much. I need to start it again. How long (with the detour) does it take to ride from the M2/M7 Abbott Rd exit to the Macquarie Park exit? Is the big dipper detour horribly horrible? Would it be okay at 5:30am? Worse on the return (AT) 3pm?

Thanks, T.

Haven't ridden it in a while (and I go opposite directions morning/afternoon), but about 45 mins on my CX bike:
east-west: https://www.strava.com/activities/749958705
west-east: https://www.strava.com/activities/602420726

For anyone using the big dipper on Renown/Barclay Roads, The Hills Shire has been given a grant to build a roundabout at the Park Road intersection. Some more construction to watch out for later this year.

http://www.hillsm2.com.au/files/NCX_bikedetour.pdf

Anyone know if the works are on track or not? Can't say I'm looking forward to another spring/summer of the North Rocks Rd bypass debacle, or crawling through the backstreets of Castle Hill. I also note that the original M2 cycle detour link/map now redircts to a Lane Cove Tunnel page!?

the westbound cycleway will be closed until early 2018. The eastbound cycleway will be closed until late 2019.
http://northconnex.com.au/construction.php

Looks like the westbound cycleway is on track to be reopened in the next couple of months as planned ("early 2018"). The third westbound lane is now open to traffic and the shoulder won't take long to prepare.

SheikYerbouti wrote:Looks like the westbound cycleway is on track to be reopened in the next couple of months as planned ("early 2018"). The third westbound lane is now open to traffic and the shoulder won't take long to prepare.

Yes!

SheikYerbouti wrote:Looks like the westbound cycleway is on track to be reopened in the next couple of months as planned ("early 2018"). The third westbound lane is now open to traffic and the shoulder won't take long to prepare.

Yes!

The past few months, I saw that the breakdown lane and third lane were being resurfaced, repainted, etc .. all looked to be on schedule.
HOWEVER, the area around Oakes Road bus stop and the new exit ramp from the tunnel (westbound) appear to be nowhere near ready? THat section continue to be a construction zone.

I thought westbound cycleway of the M2 was to be opened in early 2018

"As part of work to build the access ramps for NorthConnex, the westbound and eastbound Hills M2 Motorway cycleways will be closed between Pennant Hills Road and Windsor Road until late 2019." (http://northconnex.com.au/construction.php)

as of yesterday, M2 westbound AFTER PHR is ready for riding. the road shoulder was cleaned, resurfaced and repainted. even has newly painted "bicycle" logos on it. in fact, i saw a cyclist riding west-bound yesterday.

However, the PHR intersection remains a dog's breakfast. the only way Mr Rapha would've been able to cycle west-bound yesterday was to ride in traffic, ie take the lane for 200-400m after the PHR on-ramp west-bound. we're talking about sharing the lane with cars travelling at 100kmh here ..

ALSO, on the PHR off-ramp west-bound, there are still barricades in place preventing riders from continuing on the M2. like i said, a dog's breakfast.