With all the excitement of what’s currently happening for cycling in Christchurch, you may have missed some of the interesting developments in other parts of the country. I was at a cycling forum in Wellington last week, organised by TRAFINZ, and it was really interesting to see what the other main centres are up to at the moment.
As well as someone from Christchurch City Council explaining what is happening here, a number of other presenters described initiatives elsewhere around New Zealand:
- In Auckland, they actually have a $1 billion plan to develop a regional cycling network over the next 30 years; however you can quickly do the maths and realise that they’d better get a wriggle on if they’re going to average $30 million a year and at least 25km/yr of new cycleways. One exciting project currently being developed is a new separated cycleway around the outskirts of the CBD along Beach Road. This will eventually provide a link between the waterfront and the much-used Northwestern Cycleway.
- In Wellington, locals are celebrating a very recent trebling of cycleway funding to over $4 million a year. One of the priority routes they are looking is in the south of Wellington towards Island Bay; currently this is not that inviting as a route. Various options are being looked at, including separated cycleway configurations; the sticking point is that will require the removal of parking along some of it (which is a problem for Wellington due to narrow roads and little residential off-street parking). But momentum is certainly gathering to consider this option.
- In Dunedin, a couple of high profile cycle fatalities in the past two years have pushed the City Council to demand action for safe cycling along the state highway through town. Already there are some cycle lane separators in sections, but the next stage is to look at fully separated cycleways along the length. Two options, separated one-way paths and a combined two-way path, have been put up for consideration by NZTA.
It’s not just separated cycleways that are being looked at; in both Dunedin and Auckland, work is also underway to design and implement neighbourhood greenways, i.e. cycle-friendly “quiet streets”. And of course, other smaller centres have also been beavering away on cycling provision, especially the Model Walking/Cycling Communities of Hastings and New Plymouth.
All up, it’s exciting to see so many cycling initiatives happening around the country (and despite the still somewhat limited funding for cycleways). It’s one thing to look at overseas places for inspiration, but it makes quite the difference to see fellow locations in New Zealand that you can model yourself on (and that seems to count for more with the politicians too…).
What do you think about some of the other initiatives around the country?
It would be nice to see NZTA be better motivated to make main roads safer by painting cycle way signs on roads where there is wide sealed carriageway to the left of the fog line to encourage cyclists to use this part of the road. When I wrote to NZTA with a recommendation, I was given all sorts of reasons why it couldnt be done, such as ongoing maintenamce, such as requiring equal sppace the opposite side of the road, having no roads entering accros such cycle way, etc. It is so frustrating to see 3m sealed road to the left of the fog line on a left hand bend a a cyclist holding the fog line to their left. NZTA need to front up in a consistent manner rather than just fronting to t a talk fest to get some sort of warm fuzzies
It is great to see so many things happening around the country that will make cycling more enjoyable and safer. And then there is also the New Zealand Cycle Trail ( http://www.nzcycletrail.com ) with many trails completed now. I think these trails will improve cycling infrastructure, make cycling more popular and set us up as a serious cycling destination. Keen to do them all but I am off to bad start as I have only completed one so far due to a serious lack of leave..
and our pathways are famous – having been selected by CNN as one of the top 11 places to go in 2014!
Ian
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/13/travel/best-destinations-2014/index.html?hpt=hp_c6
New Zealand: 2,500-kilometer cycle trail
If doing more exercise is one your 2014 resolutions (and this time you mean it), an extended trip to New Zealand could provide the means.
In 2014 the country will complete its enormous Nga Haerenga cycle trail, designed to showcase the best of the country’s landscape, culture and heritage.