As part of the construction of the Sydney Metro South, the Nelson Street Bridge has been permanently closed prior to its removal.

The bridge provided the link for southbound motorists wishing to access the Epping Highway via left on Nelson St, right onto Orchard Road and right Mowbray Street West. The bridge will never be replaced.

RMS have advised that they expect motorists to continue down the Highway to Longueville Road to access the Epping Highway. It is more likely that motorists will access Orchard  Road from the north to follow the old route.

Plus what about those travelling east on Mowbray Road wishing to turn south towards St Leonards or even parts of Artarmon? One could loop around Nelson St in the past. Now it would be a long detour.

As Nelson Street will have to unconnected sections it is proposed to rename the stub between Orchard Road and the railway line. One suggestion is Horatio Street.

Also, with the alienation of the Metro ‘Dive Site’ on the corner of Pacific Highway and Mowbray Rd, the road running between Nelson St and Mowbray Rd – Bryson St– has been closed. Bryson Street commemorates John Bryson who first established the suburb of Chatswood around the intersection. This was long before Henry Lawson’s claim that Chatswood was named after Richard Hayes Harnett’s wife Charlotte on Harnett’s land near the current Chatswood Railway Station.

We must ensure that when the dive site is no longer required that Bryson St (or a suitable commemoration) is reinstated in the area.