In a week when we’ve been thinking about how kids get to school, and the importance to kids of freedom on wheels, here’s a guest post by Nicholas Lee (cross-posted at Greater Auckland). Read on for a vision of a bikeable neighbourhood that will let more children ride to school and beyond, and open up the area for longer local trips. I began commuting by e-bike, from Onehunga to Wiri, last year, around the time my eight-year-old daughter started cycling or scooting to school with a group of neighbourhood friends, children aged 8 to 10, without adult supervision. For me, cycling is a personal action towards reducing greenhouse emissions. For my …
Bike Auckland
Good things are happening in Mt Roskill, where years of dedicated advocacy and action just keep bearing fruit. The Puketapapa Local Board under former and current leadership have been exceptional champions for local walking and cycling access, as seen in the links to SH20’s big bikeway and the recent flowering of the spectacular Te Auauanga Restoration Project. In any network, it’s the little local links that make the difference. And here comes another one, this time to the east – a link from the Roskill School Campus towards Hillsborough Rd. Consultation is open until Friday 26 July, and we warmly encourage you to add your support! Here’s the project information …
Mt Albert isn’t exactly known as a cyclist’s paradise, but it has some good rides if you know where to look. In this guest article, local rider Helen King shares the secrets to cycling in Mt Albert. (This piece originally appeared on The Spinoff, and is republished here with permission). Being a bike enthusiast in Mt Albert can feel like being a Labour voter in Epsom: you know you’re in the minority; that the place isn’t really designed for you. To survive, you learn to avoid the majority of the population, navigating backroads and avoiding busy arterial routes. A recent $6.5 million village upgrade was meant to help the situation by adding …
All across Auckland, alleyways and parks provide handy connections that nimble folk on foot and on bike use to get where we’re going. And then there are the in-between places: connections that are visible, but for one reason or another, remain inaccessible. Some of these might be ‘paper roads‘, and well worth pursuing. Below, a reader tells the story of finding just such a hidden link in his neighbourhood. Let’s start with a Beatles ear worm: ‘I need a break, And I want to be a paper road rider. Paper road rider!’ Or perhaps a Prince one: ‘Paper road, paper road…’ This is the story of a road that started out in …
Te Auaunga, also known as Oakley Creek, has a lot of fans. The waterway, its wildlife, and its waterfall have been rhapsodized in NZ Geographic. It’s cared for by the extremely dedicated Friends of Oakley Creek. And over a kilometre of the stream was recently daylighted and restored as part of the Waterview Connection. Now, a further 1.5km of the waterway has been brilliantly revitalised through Walmsley and Underwood Parks in Wesley/ Mt Roskill, creating a natural green artery for the communities along the way. What began as a stormwater project to address flooding has resulted in a spectacular ecological restoration of the creek as it once was, with the bonus …
If you do ONE thing this month for a bike-friendly city, make it this: support the Waitemata Safe Routes before Friday 14 December. It takes less than 5 minutes, is absolutely free, and you’ll be giving the gift of safe streets – to the hundreds of kids who live and bike along these routes, to everyone else in the neighbourhood, and to all of Auckland. This is a HUGE turning point for Auckland – but victory is not yet guaranteed. Your support is vital. To make sure the project actually happens. There’s still loud opposition out there – so make your voice heard! So it’s the best it can be. …
After the sudden closure of the Old Mangere Bridge due to advanced deterioration, now the only way to walk and bike across the harbour – until a new walking-biking bridge is completed around 2021 – is via the underpass on SH20 under the New Mangere Bridge. Yes, you read that right: while we’re eagerly awaiting Skypath across the Auckland Harbour Bridge, our other harbour has had two crossings for many years. But while the old bridge was popular and widely used, the underpass always felt like its poor cousin – dingy, whiffy, covered in graffiti and not very welcoming. That’s why we’re delighted to report that the NZ Transport Agency has …
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