I’ve just spent the past few days in Auckland attending a transport research conference. I have visited Auckland quite a few times in the past, sometimes for conferences or teaching/training, sometimes for fun and recreation, and it’s always interesting to see how it has progressed on the cycling front. The other night we wandered along Quay St to get to our conference dinner, and it was quite impressive the transformation that has been achieved there, turning what used to be a busy traffic route into a much quieter corridor with a lovely separated cycleway. Over nine years ago, the first iteration of this cycleway was created using simple quick-build separators, and I took the opportunity to check it out as reported back in July 2016…
It’s been a while between posts; apologies for that. I’ve been up in Auckland attending the 2WALKandCYCLE Conference and my spare time seems to have been filled with either socialising or preparing presentations. More on the conference and a few other bits from Auckland soon, but for now here is a picture of Auckland’s latest cycle acquisition:
As discussed previously, this cycleway along Auckland’s waterfront provides a key link for urban cyclists in what is otherwise a fairly hostile environment. Yesterday morning, the Prime Minister John Key and Transport Minister Simon Bridges opened the 1km separated cycleway to much fanfare. The cycleway is separated from the traffic largely by either concrete kerbs or planter boxes and even has signals that allow you to bypass the various signalised intersections. Another interesting feature is an electronic cycle counter; by the time I turned up just before the afternoon peak, already ~300 people had cycled along the route. I suspect that will grow very quickly…
More photos of this cycleway and other things in central Auckland to come!
What do you think of the Quay St Cycleway?