Having worked at the hospital for a few years and still visit the area frequently John I’m confident that staff get to work each day in a variety of ways. Each will choose which option they take, possibly more than one only. All options have pros and cons. To suggest that a majority of the people who bike have no other alternative option to get there, and are in some way forced, is drawing a very long bow. How do you know that the majority are biking because it is the best choice for them ? Heaven forbid they may actually enjoy their daily commute over the bridge.

Agree.

Let us suppose you are correct. In what way could this “skew the real count”? It IS the real count. If the figure represents the hospital staff, why wouldn’t we be pleased that we have a wonderful option for hospital staff? And why would their journeys count less?

ChCh Press 17.12.24

Unsafe for pedestrians
As one who has escorted a sick wife over the Antigua St pedestrian bridge three times a week for the last seven months, I found this Saturday’s self-congratulatory letter from the executive of Spokes Canterbury offensive.

This bridge is marked on my map as a footbridge and the number of users who walk still outnumber the cyclists who ride their bikes swiftly and silently over it.

The perception of it being an unsafe place for pedestrians is real.

————————————————————————————————————-

The Antigua Bridge is the Ashburton Bridge equivalent for walkers, scooterers, and cyclists. It is not fit for purpose but we have to make do with what we are given. Spokes Canterbury advocates for better infrastructure for walkers in each and every submission it makes, not just when advocating for full grade separation for cyclists
at every opportunity.

Spokes Canterbury are stoked that on Thursday Dec 12th the bike counter located at Antigua Bridge clicked over 500,000 bike journeys since Jan 1st 2024. An average of 1450 per day throughout the year, a significant increase over recent times. This milestone follows a culmutative effort over past years to make Christchurch an accessible city for a range of transport choices. Our thanks go to all who have contributed to this effort to bring back the bicycle as a viable transport option. To the planners, designers, engineers, construction teams, promotional and education teams our thanks. To those elected members who have been on this journey of vision our thanks. Spokes Canterbury has been advocating for safer and user friendly transport infrastructure in the region since 1998; for our team and past advocates and helpers, Thursday was a special day. Christchurch, once the Cyclopolis of the Southern Hemisphere is once again. Happy cycling days. Harikoa eke paihikara.

Fi Bennetts, Stephen Wood, George Laxton, Robert Fleming, Anne Scott, Allan Taunt. Executive – Spokes Canterbury Cyclists’ Assn.

Plenty of hospital staff (including my partner) would be coming from the south side of the city and not crossing this bridge at all. Meanwhile, most people I see crossing this bridge are not heading to or from the hospital but to destinations elsewhere.