This also raises the question of what happens if all of this works and we get lots of nice, fully utilised separated cycleways… all full of people cruising at 18 km/h. I would find it very frustrating to have to ride that slowly. I wonder how that works out in places like Copenhagen. Perhaps they just learn to be patient and slow down?

Richard,

I am generally not in favour of shared pathways either. They are never wide enough, nor sufficiently delineated, at least here in Christchurch. The new South Hagley Park example paralleling Hagley Ave. is no exception, even if a much touted 4m wide. Speed differential as you note is one thing; the others are that shared path pedestrians more often than not walk erratically and dangerously, walk dogs off the leash portraying very epitome of dogleggedly, and more often than not are “wired for sound” with earphones so do not hear a friendly announcement of “on your right” or equivalent of an approaching cyclist. I avoid the dedicated cycleways we have for these reasons unless, and only unless, they significantly reduce my travel time, or obviate the need to traverse a road too dangerous even for this confident cyclist to encounter. This is rare, however.

I may be unpopular and may not speak for many. Dedicated cycleways are espoused in an almost religious manner as being the cure to all ills. I am no especial fan of dedicated cycleways. Methinks they are designed as an excuse to put cyclists far, far away and out of sight and out of mind of the average motorist; to reinforce the notion that we are inferior road users at best and completely unwelcome on “their” roads at worst. I am agile and confident enough to be able to do use most roads even with too many “close calls” and may therefore be an exception, but I do not by any stretch want to be pushed off the roads which dedicated cycleway advocacy sometimes appears to do in a perverse kind of way; along with with wishful thinking motorists whom would rather wish we just disappeared. (if completely resentful for the cost in doing so!)

For all the evidence in the support of dedicated cycleways in increasing bicycling – but not as a solution to cure all ills – I prefer that they did not need to exist in the first place. Seriously deluded wishful thinking aside that the law as well as driver behaviour is going to get it right any time soon, I think we need to keep the need for, as well as the benefit and cost of cycleways in proportion. I much, much, much prefer regular roads of all kinds which are designed with cyclists in mind. I prefer speed limits reduced to 30kmph in busy, highly developed and/or complicated road situations. But MUCH, MUCH more, I desire an adequately skilled and observant motor vehicle driver population that actually gets that cyclists exist! And cyclists whom are equally up to the task.

grin watch the mud on the south hagley park, through the rugby fields! An off there once put my pedal into the grass while the bike was still vertical !

Shared paths now being built in Toronto are 3.5 m wide. In Brisbane, new paths are a minimum of 3 m wide and if pedestrian volumes are high, separate walking paths are provided where space is available.

The Bicentennial Bikeway, the jewel in the crown of the Brisbane bikeway network, is 3.5 m wide with an additional 2 m wide adjacent walkway with a different surface colour. It carries about 3,500 cycles per day and 1,500 pedestrians.

Shared paths are likely to function well in most situations in Christchurch as the volumes of users will be much lower than on the Bicentennial Bikeway in Brisbane. But we should expect rapid growth of users as the city redevelops and as active transport continues to grow, so planners should look to the future and ensure that facilities being built now are “future-proofed”.

Didn’t intend it to mean some wider paths are not required. What I was meaning is that improving behaviour is the easiest & luckily most cost effective win. Often I come across blissfully unaware dog walkers with extending leads using whole wide path & then some! The new keep left signs & some centre line paint will be most welcomed. Fact remains no matter how wide the paths or roads become, or marked & signed, or even segregated, without improved behaviour they will never be wide enough or safe enough. Unless we get educated there will always be people blocking them or using them inappropriately. Chch commuters, whatever mode of transport they chose, do tend to be a lot more arrogant than in many other countries.

I disagree the path needs to be wide enough to handle the number of people using it. The current paths are not much more than a meter wide. No passing space at all. Even single file I wouldn’t want a cyclist going past me in such a narrow space at any speed.