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  1. Sridhar, 5. December 2012, 13:34

    I agree with Andy. With an organisation like NZTA that has got all its priorities upside down, there is only so much the council can do. At least there has been some progress within the limited budgetary constraints, compared to the previous councils. If there was more funding available, this council would definitely have done more to promote cycling in the city.

    The other unfortunate story is, the council is having to spend a lot of energy to tell NZTA why its Basin Reserve plan is flawed and useless, and that leaves little time to pursue development of cycling infrastructure.

  2. Brent C, 5. December 2012, 22:46

    There is lots of low hanging fruit that the Wellington City Council could pick, such as cycle lanes and improved road markings. Cities such as Palmerston North, Hastings and Gisborne all contain on-road cycle lanes and cycle markings. Wellington has huge potential for cycling due to its size and density, but no one has given it a chance. We need to look to cities such as New York for inspiration. It doesn’t cost millions of dollars to paint a couple of cycle lanes!

  3. erentz, 6. December 2012, 10:15

    Sridhar’s comment raises some things I don’t want to let slide. Pushing the blame onto NZTA, as Andy and Sridhar have done, is a big no-no. Brent C is absolutely correct. Bike lanes, sharrows, and bike boxes (known as advanced stop lines in the car oriented language preferred in this country), are ridiculously cheap and easy to deploy. The NZTA doesn’t need to be asked to fund this at all. It’s not difficult to stripe a cycle lane once you decide to do it. They just striped 1.15 miles (1.85 km) of two-way protected bike lane in downtown Chicago in one day.

    Putting such emphasis on the great harbour way is distracting. The Council is fully capable of working with GWRC and NZTA to make this happen while doing other things. It should not use this as an excuse to avoid working on the cheap low hanging fruit all around the CBD and surrounding suburbs (including Kilbirnie and Miramar). Doing this will generate far more trips by bike than a Petone to Ngauranga cycle way. And more importantly it will raise the profile of cycling so that in future more expensive projects will have more support.

  4. Lindsay, 6. December 2012, 10:57

    The key word seems to be “protected.” I’ve seen the bike lanes that have been created on the long avenues in New York City. They have low barriers to separate cyclists from cars and buses. And we all know about cities where bike lanes have been created on the pedestrians’ side of parked cars – another way of protecting cyclists. The inference from Andy is that council processes move far too slowly. Or not at all – see Paul Eagle’s complaint about roadworks in John Street, and the strange response from staff.

  5. Sridhar, 11. December 2012, 9:41

    @erentz. Who else do you think pays for major cycleways? Are you saying that the Great Harbour Way is on hold not because of NZTA funding but due to something else? The council has only a small budget of its own for minor works, essentially to maintain existing infrastructure.

    Maybe you need to get yourself up to date with the way these fundings work. The way it works in Chicago is not the same way it works here.

  6. erentz, 12. December 2012, 10:36

    Sridhar: I’m guessing you didn’t read my comment properly. I think it is pretty clear I said that the Great Harbour Way is just one project, and blaming the lack of progress elsewhere in the city on the hold up with NZTA funding for that one project is a no-no. Or are you saying that WCC is incapable of painting signs and lines on any other city streets while waiting for funding to come through from NZTA for the Great Harbour Way? And are you saying that to paint any signs and lines on city streets requires approval from someone at NZTA? That the City Council’s $250 million plus budget, for which a large chunk goes towards road maintenance, is very small and can’t fund such things, but can fund silly statues and other rubbish? If the WCC had the will to improve cycling in the city, it could do so quickly and fairly cheaply, it doesn’t need to chase after only the gold plated intercity cycleway style projects.


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