In February 2026, we suggested you have your say on the Waitematā Local Active Modes Plan (LAMP). While we liked the plans, we wanted a few stronger interventions to make them truly fit for purpose. We asked them to:
- beef up the surface signage on streets, for the full greenway flavour (sharrow stencils alone ain’t it).
- make sure there’s also wayfinding and threshold treatments to make it 100% clear that these streets are bike-priority routes.
- add traffic-calming at key points, using all the clever tactical tools in the toolbox – planters, paint, quick tim-tams.
- ensure all the paths are fit for purpose – e.g. access ramps, widening through Cox’s Bay Reserve, designating shared paths at key locations.
- preserve our options at intersections, by keeping the green bike boxes.
Auckland Transport have now responded to the feedback, and it’s a mixed bag.
In a nutshell, they’re doing the easy bits (sharrows, signage) and have left the actually effective bits (proper speed calming, safer intersections, protected bike lanes) for later, if ever.
Every little bit counts
Anything is better than nothing and these are good changes.
And they aren’t wasting time. It looks like Auckland Transport have already started widening the path around Cox’s Bay Park. That’s a win for walkers and wheels, and all the doggies!
In the not-so-good outcomes
In the feedback summary, Auckland Transport have responded to pecific safety concerns – about speeding in particular, which is presumably rooted in local knowledge and genuine worry – by promising to “monitor” the results. What results, we ask? There is no meaningful way to report near misses. (Can you imagine that happening in a workplace health and safety plan!) Therefore we assume someone has to be killed or seriously injured before Auckland Transport will act.
What about full greenway flavour? We asked Auckland Transport to use more visible green-backed sharrows like those on Grafton Bridge. They say “Green surface markings are currently reserved for locations with high traffic volumes and on major and regional cycle routes.” Hmmm.
If that’s the case, then why aren’t Auckland Transport using green-backed sharrows on the brand new sharrows through the terrifying Great North Road Grey Lynn shops intersection?
Other projects in the area
The LAMP improvements build on the value provided by the new routes in the area – Great North Road, Surrey Cres, Pt Chev and Meola Roads in particular. But as the map shows, there remain some glaring gaps – such as the Grey Lynn shops and Great North Road between the Grey Lynn shops and Western Springs.
Please write to Waitemata Local Board and ask their support to close these gaps.
