Crown Street makeover to boost outdoor dining

Crown Street in Surry Hills will undergo a makeover in mid-February as construction begins on streetscape upgrades.

The section of Crown Street between Devonshire Street and Cleveland Street will be affected during construction. According to the council, the proposed changes will “improve accessibility and create more space for outdoor dining”.

In addition to kerbside dining, Crown Street will boast more sidewalk space, standardised parking time limits, a raised pedestrian crossing, more trees and gardens, and improved lighting in the area.

But the bicycle shoulder lanes that run the length of the street will be eliminated in order to increase the sidewalk area. Council will also combine two city-bound bus stops into one, remove the slip lane at the intersection of Cleveland Street and Baptist Street, and reduce the number of parking spaces along the section of road by two during the day and five at night.

“We are upgrading [Crown] street to make it a much better place to eat, especially to eat outside,” a council spokesperson said.

“The City of Sydney consulted extensively with the community on this project. Combining the two bus stops will provide a more efficient use of the street’s kerb space while delivering the same level of service.”

The spokesperson said cyclists could use the nearby Bourke Street cycleway, or continue to use Crown Street by sharing the travel lane with general traffic. The street is a designated slow-speed environment where the limit is 40km/h.

“The City has carried out traffic modelling, including bus movements, which indicates there would be little – if any – impact on traffic flow and parking along Crown Street,” the spokesperon said.

But questions have been raised about the thoroughness of the consultation process. The Red Lantern, a Vietnamese restaurant owned by chef and television host Luke Nguyen located on Crown Street, told City Hub they had not been consulted or informed by council of the proposed changes to the street.

Down the road, bistro and wine bar Bishop Sessa also claimed they were not consulted, but said they supported the proposed changes.

“We are all for beautification works of the area. A wider footpath and improved landscaping particularly will improve local amenity and, hopefully, make the area more attractive to visitors,” said owner Erez Gordon.