Ahoy residents of East Tamaki, Pakuranga, Half Moon Bay, Bucklands Beach, Howick, Highland Park, Flatbush, Botany Downs, and Dannemora! If you walk or bike in the area, and you’re dreaming of a safe school route, or a particular shortcut through a park, or an upgrade that would make an existing route more usable – this is your chance to have your say. Feedback is open on the Howick Local Paths Draft Network until Saturday 7 April 2018. Take a look at the draft map for the area and the consultation document, and add your thoughts here. Q. What are Local Paths? Formerly known as Greenways, Local Paths are all about creating better …
Bike Auckland
Women in Urbanism Aotearoa created a special weekend event to bring girls out to play on bikes, in partnership with the Auckland Women’s Centre, Auckland Transport Walking and Cycling, and special guest, Olympic BMX medallist Sarah Walker. Emma McInnes reports on how ‘Pump Tracks are for Girls’ brightened up a rainy weekend and empowered young riders. Right on 10am, children and their bikes began to materialise in Grey Lynn Park, decorating the pump track scene in raincoats and rainboots of vibrant blues, reds, yellows, pinks, adding colour to the dull grey, and bringing life and joy to the track. Plenty just showed up in singlets and tights; the rain was no drama to them, …
Been wondering what’s happening with the New Lynn to Avondale ‘rail trail’ shared path project? So have we. Our Westie correspondent Sam Finnemore takes a look back over the story so far, what’s hopefully coming next, and how it fits into the bigger picture out west. A lot’s changed since Easter 2016, both in New Zealand and internationally, for better and for worse (with no particular order implied!). But let’s focus just on developments for bikes right here in Auckland. Two years ago, the Lightpath had been open and blowing Aucklanders’ minds for just a couple of months. Right at the heart of downtown, the Quay Street protected cycleway was …
Running alongside SH16, the Northwestern Cycleway is not only the key bike path from the western suburbs into the CBD, it’s also a crucial local connection to and between Kingsland, Eden Terrace, and Arch Hill. And it’s booming – daily bike traffic has tripled in less than five years, with a daily average of close to 1000 trips registered by the automatic bike counter near Bond St (and 1500 on the last Thursday in February!). It’s a huge success story – with a major pinch point: the section between St Lukes Rd and Newton Rd. Built in the early 2000s as a shared path for bikes and pedestrians, the width …
Media Release: Final push for Skypath welcomed – Bike Auckland applauds Government’s rebalancing of transport priorities 6 April 2018 Bike Auckland is celebrating the government’s new draft land transport policy, which boosts cycling and walking investment and ensures the swift completion of Skypath and Seapath, fixing the crucial ‘missing link’ across Auckland’s harbour. People on both sides of the harbour have long shown overwhelming enthusiasm for being able to walk and bike over the Harbour Bridge. It’s now realistic to give this project the urgency required for it to be in place for the America’s Cup. Combined with a strong focus on public transport and safer travel on local roads, the …
The Grey Lynn cycleway routes – plus the related safety upgrades, including new crossings and traffic calming – have been paused for review since Christmas, and many readers will be wondering what’s going on. You can keep track of Auckland Transport’s official updates on this page, and you can also sign up for email updates by writing to bruce.thomas@at.govt.nz The review process The main thing to know is that AT has engaged urban design consultants Boffa Miskell to lead a technical review of the Waitemata Safe Routes programme. The review is in two parts – Richmond Road (including the West Lynn shops) and the Old Mill Road, Surrey Crescent and Garnet Road …
Kids and bikes: one of the most natural combinations in the world, and also one of the most eagerly searched topics at Bike Auckland. Our lists of great places to ride with children have always been popular, especially every time the holidays roll around! Now we’ve taken a step up, with a new searchable database of great rides that you can filter by location, ability level, and other features. We’re delighted to launch this fabulous resource, brought to you by hours of behind-the-scenes work by a dedicated volunteer, Tracey-Lee Pettifer, and our wonderful pro-bono technical and design team at Sandfield. Check out Bike Auckland’s brand new Rides page – featuring, for starters, ten …
Plugged into the cycleway network on all sides, a short ride from a train station and future light rail, knitted into nearby neighborhoods and only half an hour ride from the central city, and with a transport plan to create bike-friendly streets inside a green campus… Auckland’s newest development could be our first Biketopia. Announced on Sunday, the government’s purchase of 29ha of Unitec land in Mt Albert in order to create affordable housing in partnership with iwi will bring 3000-4000 new homes – and 10,000 or so new residents – to what is, in transport terms, an absolute gem of a location. The land, full of history and heritage and …
One of the many upgrades happening along Tamaki Drive at the moment is a quick project to improve safety at the intersection with Watene Crescent, in Okahu Bay next to the Orakei Domain. Auckland Transport plans to install bicycle activated ‘smart studs’ here (small bright lights set into the road, as seen elsewhere in the city) with accompanying warning signs, to alert drivers to the presence of people on bikes. Of course, this is just one small but crucial interim safety fix along what is Auckland’s (and maybe New Zealand’s) busiest bike route. We really hope to see delivery of better safety on this stretch of Tamaki Drive – flashing warning signs …
Updated 17 April 2018: Auckland Transport has contacted us today to say they’ve revised this intersection design in direct response to our concerns. In what has been a tragic, awful week on Papatoetoe’s streets, we’re happy to claim this as a partial victory. The new intersection design, while still constrained by space and budget, is at first glance much safer than the original one. And there’s the promise of more improvements to come as investment becomes available in the next budget round. (A very very good reason to lift your voices in support of the Regional Land Transport Plan when it comes up for consultation next month!) In short: our work …
Public feedback is currently open on Auckland Council’s budget for the next ten years – and on the plan to get us through to 2050. It’s important to have your say before 8pm on Wednesday 28 March. Your voice will be incredibly important in making sure our city makes space for people on bikes. It’s a really big consultation – luckily, we have a couple more weeks to get to grips with it! The 10-year Budget 2018-2028 is all about the nuts and bolts: the questions are about how Auckland will pay for everything. The Auckland Plan 2050 is the big picture: the questions are about what we want Auckland …
Here’s our quick and easy guide to giving bike-friendly feedback on the Auckland Plan and 10-year budget – feedback closes on Wednesday 28 March 2018, so have a read and have your say! (See our overview of the plan and budget over here). We’ve combed through the forms to give you a bike-friendly angle on every question that could materially affect the quality of your ride, and get us closer towards the vision we all share of a bikeable Auckland. There are lots of ways to have your say – including at public meetings, on Twitter and on Facebook. You can also fill in a paper form, which you can download here. …
Auckland has always been a ‘city of villages’, highly walkable and bikeable neighbourhoods, each with its own character. So it’s no surprise that all over Auckland, local bike groups are springing up – some dedicated to particular activities, and others devoted to fostering local connections and fun, in the strong tradition of ‘Bike Burbs‘ like the Puketapapa Active Transport Haven, Bike Devonport,Bike Te Atatu, and Bike Kaipatiki, just to give a few examples. Meanwhile, the residential population of Auckland’s CBD has risen eight-fold in the last two decades – and each new apartment development is practically a village unto itself (with many already building bikes into the picture). So it was only a matter …
Auckland Transport’s fund for supporting community bike activities has just announced its second round – applications are open from now until Thursday 5 April. Applicants may apply for grants from a minimum of $300 to a maximum of $5,000. (Groups with no formal legal structure can apply for a grant up to $1,000.) You’ll find out if you’re successful by Wednesday 15 April, and projects must be delivered by 30 June 2018. What kinds of projects are eligible? Here’s the full policy: it’s aimed at community groups, large and small (no political parties, commercial entities; unfortunately, schools and members of the Council family aren’t eligible either). The successful projects from the …
Wondering if it’s time to become a Bike Auckland member and support our work for a more bike-friendly city? We’ve got seven new reasons why you should! Bike Barn has joined our bike shop partnership programme, and that means its seven Auckland stores now offer membership discounts of up to 25 percent when you present your membership card. Here’s the inside story on the Bike Barn offer: What is Bike Barn? It’s one of the big dogs of the New Zealand cycle trade, that’s what. With 19 stores up and down the country and a very active marketing programme, chances are you’ve heard of Bike Barn already. Bike Barn’s Auckland stores spread …
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