There is no end in sight to a standoff between inner-city residents and the state government over the Erskineville Road footbridge as the push to install lights on the path Transport for NSW has declared unsafe hits an impasse more than two months after the temporary fix stopped working.

Residents embraced installation of solar lights on the 50-metre crossing over heavy rail tracks in December as Transport worked to ameliorate safety concerns of pedestrians who reported stumbling on the road while walking at night.

But Erskineville residents have returned to walking in the dark after the festoon lights – installed as a temporary fix while Transport officials mull a long-term solution – started to falter in May after cloudy and rainy conditions stopped the solar batteries from charging. This has continued into winter the lights fail to glow in shorter days and inclement weather.

Residents report the lights turning on just after dusk on sunny days, only to begin fading as the night wears on. Last Tuesday, for example, the first of the lights faded at 7pm until all were dark by midnight despite sunshine charging the batteries all day.

Stephanie Swanson, an Erskineville resident of 14 years, said the current conditions were “really dangerous”.

“I have to turn my phone on [when crossing],” said Swanson, who crosses the bridge at least three times a week. “I have car lights shining in my face. My neighbour is a wheelchair user so she can’t get up there. Elderly people are using walking sticks.”

A senior Transport official conceded the flaws of the solar lights in written correspondence on July 22, acknowledging their performance was “dependent on the amount of sunlight received during the day”.

Transport said a permanent lighting solution would be installed “as quickly as possible”. Light fittings attached to the bridge and connected to the nearby electricity grid are the likely option, expected to be finalised in coming months before construction starts in early 2027. Erskineville residents haven’t been consulted on the permanent solution.

Installation of the lights has been the subject of a years-long campaign from Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who urged then-transport minister Jo Haylen to commission lighting “before an injury occurs” in December 2024.

It followed an investigation from City of Sydney officers to install lights at the end of the footpath – property which falls into the council’s responsibility – which eventually abandoned after the conclusion that such a measure would fail to address concerns raised.

City of Sydney deputy lord mayor Jess Miller, an Erskineville resident who has also trumpeted the campaign for improved safety on the bridge, called the solar lights stoush “just another chapter in the ongoing saga”.

“I’m very confused and slightly concerned by what appears to be [the] bridge lighting saga,” Miller said. “It really does beg the question – how many bureaucrats does it take to change some lightbulbs?”

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