It has been a while since our last official eNews, and we may soon replace those fully for a more flexible style of communication to update our members and friends.
But we thought it would be good to confirm to you that we have been extraordinarily busy – and by far not only with the current topics like fielding media questions, and working for better cycle conditions on Tamaki Drive.
Among the things that have kept CAA members busy in the last months were:
- Discussing cycling designs for the Albany Highway, Panmure town centre, Tiverton-Wolverton and Dominion Road routes – including the provision of alternate cycle routes, where Auckland Transport does not consider cycleways feasible on some sections of the later two routes (not uncontroversial for CAA – but we believe that it is our task to get the best results we can realistically get, rather than refuse to work on such cases at all)
- Helping organise the TelstraClear Challenge over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and the Busway, complete with a Community Bike Fair!
- Assisting Cycle Action Waiheke with technical advice and support during their negotiations about new roadworks and cycle facilities
- Congratulating NZTA on becoming a corporate member (!) of Cycle Action. We still have our occasional disagreements, but the times of “being strangers” are hopefully gone forever
- Helping organise bunch riding skills for sports cyclists and cycle training workshops for bus drivers, to encourage better behaviour among all road users
- Providing cyclist advice on slightly more unusual projects like cycle push ramps for the stair sets in the Governor Fitzroy Plaza revamp, Fuller’s (Waiheke) “bikes on buses” project (which started off highly successful, with additional racks ordered within days of the trial scheme having being started), or the “Art by Bike” event
- Providing a homestay for (and profiting from being able to have some great chats with) Roger Geller, the famed Portland, USA, bicycle coordinator
- Organising a strategy hui, to provide our hard-working committee members the mental space to think more strategically, instead of only about current projects
- Attending the upcoming Walking and Cycling Conference in Hastings, to discuss recent and coming projects with other cycle advocates and cycling-related Council and NZTA staff
- Advising a law student about possible dissertation / research topics regarding laws that could protect cyclists better from harassment
- Attending the stakeholder groups for the Waterview Connection project, with, of course, a particular eye on progressing the Waterview Cycleway
- Advocating to ensure our new electric trains will provide for bicycle carriage
- Progressively updating Auckland’s cycling user maps, and assisting with updates for the planning maps for new cycle infrastructure
As you can see, we are hard at work – and every day, we see the results rolling along on the street. It’s still a hard fight at times, but there’s lots to smile about too.
