Henderson is set to boom in the coming decade – with more housing and better transport links to serve the growing population. The new frequent bus network for the west is already transforming travel options around the area, and the CRL will allow more fast and frequent services from the super-handy train station.
Already, the township’s legacy ‘Twin Streams’ bike paths – along Oratia and Opanuku and Henderson Creek – provide excellent greenspace connections across the area and into the wider bike network.
Just add some great local walkable and bikeable links for a truly liveable ‘urban eco-centre’!
That’s why Auckland Transport (AT), the Henderson-Massey Local Board, Auckland Council and Panuku Development Auckland wants to know where you want to walk and bike, and what would make it safer and more attractive.
Feedback has been extended until Wednesday 10 June. Here’s the online link. (Everyone within 3km of the station will also get a paper form in their mailboxes).
Note: this is a high-level consultation to clarify key routes people would use to bike or walk between the train station, town centre and local facilities. There’ll be more specific consultation on particular projects as they get underway.
These are the questions for feedback:
- What do you like about the Henderson town centre?
- What do you dislike about the town centre?
- What improvements would you like to see made to the town centre?
- Tell us which cycling and walking routes are important to you.
- What issues or concerns do you have on these routes and suggested improvements?
Our immediate suggestions:
- more bike parking in the town centre, especially at the train station (bike park-and-ride is the most space-efficient!), plus the public library, the aquatic and recreation centre, and other key destinations.
- a slow speed zone through the town centre to make it a people-friendly place.
- protected cycleways along local arterials to the town centre and station.
- ungap the map between the town centre and Henderson’s fantastic legacy bike paths (along the Twin Streams and Henderson Creek). At the moment, these gorgeous paths bring you at the periphery of the shopping village, but leave a scary gauntlet to get to where the action is.
- safe school routes for walking and biking, focused on local schools – to ease daily congestion in neighborhoods and deliver a ‘school holiday effect’ year round on the main roads.
- better wayfinding and more maps and signage all round.
What else strikes you as important for a more bikeable Henderson? Add your thoughts – here’s the link again.
But wait, there’s more!
You can also give your thoughts on a specific project: an upgrade to the Opanuku Reserve, as part of creating a new path and new art bridge linking the Town Centre to the Corban Estate Arts Centre and the Opanuku Stream Path. The feedback questions are mainly about play and sport equipment and the physical design of the park space, but you can also talk about what would make you more likely to visit and hang out (safe bike links, yep?). Here’s the link to have your say.
PS Are you a local?
Here are two great new resources to make your Hendo-bike-life even better.
- Bike Henderson – aka ‘Henderbike’! – our newest bike burb group for local discussion and bike-friendly activities. Join us over on Facebook for local info!
- And welcome to the neighbourhood: a new Henderson outpost of the Eco-Matters Bike Hub, a great place where great people help rehab and recycle old bikes, and where you can pick up a second hand bike and learn how to look after your bike. The good green legacy of the old Waitakere City Council lives on! The original Bike Hub is at Olympic Park, West Lynn – and the new Henderson hub is in the carpark at 4 Henderson Valley Rd, next to the pop-up pump track.
