With light rail now planned for Dominion Road, and NZTA coming forth with timely new updates, people are starting to get their heads around what a major boulevard truly optimised for public transport round the clock might look like. For our part, we naturally picture it as including world-class bikeways. There’s space, bike use is growing, it’s a way to leverage your public transport investment, and really, in 2018, why wouldn’t you? In a Herald article back in July, the manager of the Dominion Road Business Association had a slightly different take: [Gary] Holmes said light rail down Dominion Rd will only work if it is about urban regeneration, rather than …
Bike Auckland
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 …
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 …
UPDATE: Keen to give this project the go-ahead? Head here for our Quick Feedback Guide! or, if you have more time and/or are curious Scroll down for our detailed design thoughts Feedback is now open on the revamped designs for Grey Lynn, which include not only neighbourhood bikeways, but great stuff for pedestrians, more trees, and quality landscaping. Here’s Auckland Transport’s project page with full info and detailed plans – and the consultation brochure. Feedback is now open until Friday 14 December. We’ll be back with more nuanced observations, but for now we’ll keep it simple. This is beautiful, smart, proud design. It puts pedestrians first, creates safe and connected bikeways …
Last week, we proposed proper bikeways for Dominion Road as part of the light rail project – and we’ve been overwhelmed with the response. “Where do I sign?” was the instant cry. We have an answer for you! If you share our vision for safe cycling on Dominion Road, please add your name to the petition. We’re also counting on you to share the link and pass on the good news. You’ll be helping ensure that Auckland gets the absolute most out of this once-in-a-lifetime $6bn opportunity, by incorporating a strategic bike route into the big dig for light rail on Dominion Road. This is our chance to create a great green …
A recent guest post by Dr Rob Burrell struck a real chord. It was about the irony of how dangerous it is to bike to one of Auckland’s biggest hospitals – despite cycling being one of the healthiest commutes there is. Now, Rob’s anaesthetist colleague Dr Craig Birch follows up with his own story of how difficult it is to bike safely to Middlemore. Content warning: two grisly crashes, resulting in what would officially qualify as merely ‘minor’ injuries. I have cycled to Middlemore Hospital, where I work as an anaesthetist, for many years – since 2001. Unfortunately, safety issues have meant that I’ve had to resort to getting in my car …
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