Seasons greetings! I hope you’re having a nice holiday break and reflecting on an “interesting” year (2020 end-of-year review coming soon…). You might also be getting out and about on your bike around town, and you might notice a few new cycleway works. We’ve already touched on a few, like the Northern Corridor pathway and the Nor’West Arc cycle route. Today, here’s another one recently upgraded: the pathway along the old Blenheim Rd overbridge corridor to South Hagley Park:
As you can see, the existing pathway has now been widened to 4m (which seems to be the default width for new facilities these days). In due course, this will form part of the South Express major cycle route all the way from Templeton to town, with other sections in Riccarton also currently being worked on at the moment. Part of the work will also be the replacement of the current railway crossing “maze” with an automated gate arrangement like on Matai St.
It’s nice to see all of this work starting to get done around the city. And it’s nice to see that cycleway widths are being provided to cater for future capacity growth as well (which at current rates, may not take long…).
Have you ridden the widened path facilities around town yet?
Yes – its literally the most boring piece of short pathway around. And that’s a desirable quality, with no bumps or lumps and plenty of passing space.
The temporary “dirt path” is still there for those who want to take it, perhaps to exercise their suspension or do some mad skids.
It is fantastic to hear that the “mantrap” at the railway line is to change, those are not helpful and actively distract cyclists from their surroundings. Disappointingly, they’re still being installed in other places, and in even-tighter configurations. Curraghs Road for example.