Several new cycleways are being prepared for construction down south by Auckland Transport – second one up is cycle lanes on Browns Road, a main west-east link along the northern edge of Manurewa. Unlike the Papatoetoe Cycleway, it doesn’t directly connect to a main town centre, but it does also lead to a train station (bike & ride!), and at the east end, connects to Great South Road cycle facilities for rides further afield.
So what do the plans tell us? Again, it’s good stuff to start with, but then…:
- Why do the cycle lanes disappear as westbound cyclists get to Roscommon Road? At the risk of repeating ourselves – a link should at least go up to the next road. Don’t leave cyclists hanging right in the danger zone! Even if cycle facilities may be planned on Roscommon Road at some future stage (as we are aware) – please still complete Browns Road all the way. Not some time later – now.
- This cycle lane needs to be continued through the intersection, all the way up to Roscommon Road. This is easily achievable within the wide road reserve..
- The cycle lanes are proposed to be 1.8m wide. Good, but in an Auckland driver’s eyes, that is still likely to be a tempting parking lane – and anyway, it is also quite feasible (if not as easy as on Station Road) to build this to a better standard from day one..
- Just stick up flexi-posts to create a protected cycle lane (or if there’s concerns about the looks of flexi posts in a suburban street, stay with low kerbed dividers like those shown in this post). We need to step up and build better bike lanes. Paint only attracts only a few people way ahead of the trend. Step up the game, please, Auckland Transport! Build a cycleway that our children would be allowed to ride on.
- Lastly, a somewhat more minor issue – on signalised side roads there should really be feeder cycle lanes to support the main cycleway project. These often can be included solely via road marking changes.
- Especially when there’s so much space like on Russell Road – the southbound lane is over 8m wide! Even with a wide bus stop and a normal traffic lane, there’s easily the space to mark a northbound feeder cycle lane for some 50m or so by shuffling the other lanes over a bit. With some adjustment, you might even manage south AND northbound cycle lanes.
- Same applies on Dalgety Drive, though there seems to be space only for a southbound lane approach lane, not for lanes in both directions.
Okay, hopefully a lot of you agree with the above comments – please circulate this consultation through your networks, and please submit comments yourself if you have any connection to the area. Consultation is open till Friday this week, so why not give feedback now?
