Ahoy, readers from Hatfields Beach to Campbells Bay, and all the beaches and bays in between including the whole Whangaparaoa Peninsula – here’s a consultation you’ll want to weigh in on… The Hibiscus and Bays Local Board is creating a draft network plan for Greenways within the area which considers potential pedestrian, cycle, bridle and other active connections. Greenways Plans provide an overarching network plan for the establishment of pedestrian and cycling connections and other active and/or recreational means of transport (eg bridleways, scooters etc), interconnecting places such as ecological sites, parks, beaches, landmarks, schools, community facilities, places of work, recreation or town centres. Greenways can follow natural or man-made landscape patterns. The Greenways …
Bike Auckland
The fabulous Te Whau* Pathway project is leaping ahead, with a draft preliminary design now out for public consultation. We’re reported before on how this Greenway will create 12km of safe shared path along the western edge of the Whau River, from Te Atatu to Green Bay, to be completed over the next 5-8 years. Some sections are already in place, but this plan will make sure that future stages will work best for the grand vision! (*If you’re not familiar with Whau, you may be tempted to pronounce it ‘Wow’ – in fact, it’s ‘Fo’, as in, yes, that beautiful vision is fo’ real!) Te Whau Pathway is a truly exemplary Greenway project – ecologically and historically …
The opening of the Roskill Safe Routes late last year was just Act 1 of an impressive plan for a neighbourhood built around safer streets and ecologically rich parks. Now, the widened paths and new crossings that form the Safe Routes will be complemented by a beautiful greenway alongside a lovingly restored waterway. As the rest of the city gets to grips with the power of greenways to transform neighborhoods, this will be a shining example. First, a quick flashback to the official opening of the Roskill Safe Routes in November 2016. The completion of this $4.9m project was a huge win for the Puketapapa Local Board, which had patiently shepherded the vision through several years and a few bumps in the road, bringing together …
In what might be the first Greenways project out of the gate under the new Local Path Design Guide, consultation is now open on the proposed Tamaki Path, which will run for 5km through the green reserves alongside the Tamaki Estuary, from Wai o Taiki Bay to Panmure Wharf. This project, which we’ve written about before, has been developed by the Maungakiekie Tamaki Local Board and the Auckland Council Greenways programme. Feedback has been extended until Thursday 23 February 2017 and here’s the link (scroll down to link for the Online Feedback Form). Note: you can comment on one or all 8 sections of the path. Our quick take This is a brilliant vision, and will be a very scenic addition to …
Now that the Local Path Design Guide is out in the wild, it’s going to be exciting to see what the Local Boards of with it. First out of the gate is the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board Draft Greenways Plan, with some seriously ambitious long-term visioneering. Having grown up biking in this part of town, I love the way the Local Board is embracing the huge potential. These burbs are nice and flat, with heaps of parks and green spaces and alleyways that can be hooked together via quiet streets and protected cycleways. I’d love to see the kids of the future roaming as freely as my siblings and I did – on foot and on bikes, from shops to parks …
There’s steady progress along an exciting greenway in West Auckland: Te Whau Pathway, which will eventually form a connection all the way from Green Bay through New Lynn and up the Whau Estuary to Te Atatu, via local parks and clever boardwalks, all wide enough to share for walking and cycling. Several sections of new path have been built over the past year – to be formally linked together by future projects – and now, Stage 1A is having an official opening party! Date: Saturday 19 November (rain date Saturday 3 December) Time: 10am – 12pm Venue: McLeod Park, end of McLeod Road, Te Atatu South The event will begin with short speeches, followed by: Social games of …
Over recent years, there’s been a lot of chat about building ‘the right kind of cycleways’ for Auckland. Should we focus on primary routes (on big arterials, along motorways and railway lines)? Or more on ‘Greenways’ – which is to say, routes along slower, quieter streets and through ‘open space’ (that’s Council-speak for parks and reserves)? Fans of Greenways make the case that they’re wonderfully laid-back routes, where beginners and families with kids can cycle without the constant stress of traffic. Skeptics reckon this is ‘taking the easy road’, by investing only in uncontroversial and/or roundabout routes that aren’t much use for actual transport cycling, are often sub-standard, and (in the case of paths through parks) often put people on bikes …
Do you live in the Papakura Local Board area, or ride through it? If so, you’ll want to add your voice to this current consultation on future greenways. The Local Board is seeking your thoughts on connections through parks, along waterways, in fact, anywhere you think a link would make your biking life easier. Greenways are a ‘joined up’ network of cycling, walking and ecological routes through parks and quiet low traffic streets intended to provide safe and enjoyable ways for people to get around, get active, and get engaged with the community and their environment. They are supported by environmental improvements, such as planting and water quality upgrades. Here’s some …
Puketapapa/ Mount Roskill is bisected by SH20, but it’s also blessed with connected ribbons of green: extensive parks where wide paths run alongside daylighted streams in the shade of willow trees. They’re a breath of fresh air for the urban cyclist. Rolling through Walmsley Park on Tuesday morning I found myself thinking, ‘Am I in Christchurch? Or Cambridge? Or somewhere on the outskirts of Amsterdam?’ Now, thanks to the long-term vision of the Local Board and Auckland Transport, those wonderful greenways will be connected by shared paths along traffic-calmed streets to create the Mount Roskill Safe Routes, which run all the way from Mt Albert to Waikowhai Bay. (You can see some before photos here, thanks to Roskill Community Voice.) Tuesday’s sod-turning ceremony …
Here’s a sign of great things to come – the official blessing of the first section of the planned Te Whau Pathway. It’s a small section, but every path starts somewhere! Swing by for a sausage sizzle, speeches, and even a bouncy castle. Our local hero Phil will say a few words, and plenty of official sorts will be on hand to answer any questions you might have about the Greenway, like… how long till we can bike all the way up that shining river to the top of Te Atatu peninsula??
Cycle Action’s Richard Barter went along to the dawn blessing ceremony for the spectacular new Hinaki Eel Trap Bridge in Mt Roskill’s War Memorial Park, on Friday 5 June. Here’s his report: I had the privilege of representing Cycle Action, joining local Iwi, community leaders, engineers and contractors, at a dawn ceremony hosted by Auckland Transport to bless Hinaki Bridge, in Puketapapa Mount Roskill War Memorial Park. The bridge, which is the final link in the new Dominion Road parallel cycle routes, spans Te Auaunga (Oakley Creek) between the park and Gifford Rd. In design, it is symbolic of the woven flax eel traps traditionally used by Maori in the creek, and was designed by …
East Auckland bike champ Kirsten Shouler writes: ** Update: submissions have been extended till 15 May ** The beautiful coastal waterfront along the Tamaki River not only has huge historic and cultural associations, it also has massive potential as part of an effective greenways route for the Panmure and Point England areas. So it’s great to see planning for a new green and scenic walk-and-ride route along the Panmure side of the Tamaki River. The paths are part of the draft concept plans for improvements to Mt Wellington War Memorial Park and Panmure Wharf Reserve, developed by the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board, which are out for public feedback until the end of this week (more …
No great surprises here, but research in the United States has found a link between improved cycle infrastructure and positive health outcomes. The research specifically concentrated on the development of the Minneapolis Greenway and the effect on travelling patterns in the areas near the Greenway. The Midtown Greenway is a 5.5-mile [8.8 km] long former railroad corridor in south Minneapolis with bicycling and walking trails. It sounds very similar to the Glenn Innes – Tamaki cycleway, work on which is due to start shortly. In fact, there is a proposal in Minneapolis to build a street car (tram) line along the Greenway to cash in on the fantastic synergy between public …
Sarah Price, NZTA’s stakeholder manager would like to alert NW Cycleway users and people on the Te Atatu Interchange that there’s a few shifts of paths coming up. Thanks to the condition of consent and the contractor’s and designer’s work, closures of the cycleway will again be avoided (except maybe for the odd time when a truck has to cross the cycleway here or there). These closures are in part so Fulton Hogan can construct the new underpass and new cycleway sections. We will show you some more info about those in a few days. But here are the detour images – and some information on when you can get …
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