Doyle Street Bellbird is a two lane, two-way, sealed road with a speed limit of 50km/h. Most of the on-road cycling section has unmarked road shoulders, with marked cycle lane for part of the route. This is an active transport connection route to Bellbird Public School with the main users being primary school children.
Bellbird North is a major Urban Release Area (URA) in the Cessnock LGA. This exponential growth has aggravated the need for improved walking and cycling facilities and the management of the road network in a way that encourages greater use of sustainable transport modes to meet the current and emerging transport challenges to address these challenges.
Connecting the footpath network from Bellbird Public School to Tennant Street will allow primary school children to walk/cycle to and from school. The pathway will run along Doyle Street to Tennant Street with a pedestrian refuge at the Sparke Street intersection to gain access into Carmichael Park.
Council will construct a 1.8m walking path on Doyle Street from the existing path at Cambage Street to Sparke Street and a 3m wide shared path from Sparke Street to Tennant Street at Balangara Way.
A raised wombat crossing will be constructed at the intersection of Doyle and Sparke Streets. The crossing will physically separate pedestrians, cyclists, motor vehicles and other road users and provide a safe road crossing point.
A traffic management plan, which will include traffic control and detours, will be implemented at the commencement of construction for the duration of the works to assist with management of local traffic through and around the works area.
The project design and construction are funded under the Transport for NSW Get Kids Active 2025-26 program.