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 …
BarbC
Did you see the Herald story today lamenting the lack of park-and-ride space for people driving to Auckland public transport? As an AA member, I had advance notice of this story via a newsletter in my mail; it’s certainly a case to be made, and fair enough for AA to run with it on behalf of their members. Of course, the other side of the park-and-ride story is bike parking for those who cycle to public transport. We often hear from the AA that many of its Auckland members own and enjoy riding bikes, so this would be a natural component of their campaign. Bike-and-ride is not just an efficient way to …
We’re keen to get your feedback on the new bike parking plan for Devonport’s Ferry Terminal. Read the info below, and give us your comments by Sunday 25th June! The Devonport Ferry Terminal has been bursting with the noise of jackhammers breaking out concrete. Behind the gleaming white screens erected to block off the work areas, serious work is underway on the second stage of the revamp of the rental spaces. At present, the terminal has a range of bike parking, with the most popular facilities on each side of the terminal building. They have ‘sail’ covers which give some protection from the weather and salt spray. On the north side …
It’s the gateway to Devonport; it’s a busy intersection traversed by people of all ages, on foot, on bikes, and in cars en route to school, work, shops and ferry; and it’s well overdue for fixing. So why is the Victoria Rd and Calliope Rd improvement project suddenly attracting a bit of drama? What’s causing the Local Board to quibble over a major local street improvement that makes things safer for children and families en route to Devonport Primary and St Leo’s Primary or the same people and elderly people crossing Calliope Rd and Victoria Rd to reach the village and the ferry? It couldn’t just be that the design includes a bike lane… could it?? Here’s …
The Bike Kaipatiki team, representing bike folk of the North Shore to the west of the bridge, has been asking Auckland Transport to revisit the traffic-calming design for the Lower Queen St section of the Northcote Safe Cycle Route (NSCR). Along with Bike Auckland, we feel that with SkyPath on track to open in 2018, AT needs to design the NSCR to the highest standards to service the pedestrian and cycle patronage SkyPath will bring – not to mention, the growing number of people biking to and from the Northcote Ferry Terminal. So what better idea than to enlist the support of local Queen St resident, the Hon. Dr Jonathan Coleman, MP? It seemed a …
UPDATE: Feedback is now closed on this consultation. Thank you for the overwhelming response – together, you submitted more than 400 individual points of view on how important it is to build this route right the first time! AT is now working through the feedback and we await further developments. The background Bike Auckland and our staunch Shore ‘burb buddies Bike Kaipatiki are asking Auckland Transport to urgently lift its game on a key route in Northcote: Queen St, which is the present and future gateway to the ferry terminal, SkyPath, and SeaPath. To paraphrase two of the more than 200 feedback comments submitted so far: it would be such a pity to have the amazing Skypath …
My brother in Wellington wrote to me recently about a weekend train trip to the country with family members, some of whom brought bikes so they could take the scenic route home. The outing wasn’t just fun, but affordable. My brother has a SuperGold Card, and everyone else enjoyed cheap fares designed to encourage more people to use public transport instead of cars for weekend fun. I’m seeing more and more of this multi-modal multi-generational weekend travel around Auckland. Family groups bringing bikes on the ferry to explore Devonport; or taking the train to Onehunga to ride to Ambury Park; or arriving at Britomart ready to ride the waterfront and the Pink Path (or both!). Everyone looks to …
Last week we alerted you to the watered-down plans for the southern end of the Northcote Safe Cycle Route. (Go here for the long read with a great comment thread; or read a quick version here). We urged you to help speak up for a safer treatment here for people on bikes and on foot. Already, dozens of you have written to say in your own words how crucial this issue is, how you experience (or would like to experience) this street, and how important it is that the Shore gets its share of properly safe cycleways. Yesterday’s re-confirmation of SkyPath’s resource consent makes the case even stronger! Simply put: this key gateway to the Shore, used …
Yesterday, we posted an update on the Northcote Safe Cycle Route and the ongoing watering-down of the southern section. We’re impressed by your response so far! 46 submissions in less than 24 hours, most of them in your own extremely eloquent words. It’s especially great to hear both from locals and from further afield. A great reminder that people on bikes love to cooperate on the big picture, because we can see how local routes are crucial to the vital network. To quickly add your voice, scroll down to the form at the bottom of this blog post. Let Auckland Transport know the three proposed options just aren’t safe enough, nor fit for future purpose. We need protected bike lanes on this …
Are you based in Takapuna or Milford? Do you bike around town… or wish you could? There’s a new local ‘bike burb’ group focussing on your area: Bike Shore, in the hands of the very capable Red and Claudia. They’re hosting a breakfast on Friday at the lovely Jam Organic Cafe, in the middle of the shops on Hurstmere Road, opening onto the Green. Friday 26 August 2016, 7am – 8.30am Pop along and say hello – it’s a chance to share thoughts about what’s currently happening for bikes in the area, and what could happen in future, especially once SeaPath and SkyPath are up and running. Given the impressive bike sheds …
Auckland’s North Shore can sometimes feel like a cycling desert, with ordinary folk on bikes gasping from oasis to oasis across unforgiving gaps, and occasionally finding the well has run dry completely. Of course, springs of hope are constantly bubbling up to nourish the soul – not least our excellent burb groups, the original Bike Devonport, feisty newcomers Bike Kaipatiki, and fresh-faced Bike Albany (who have a shared lunch this weekend, if you’re nearby). But it can be pretty parched out there. Which is why it’s fantastic to see the proposed Northern Corridor Improvements poised to deliver a whole new watershed of cycling potential. What the NW cycleway has done for the west and GI-Tamaki will do for the east, this will do for the Shore. …
While reading a Wikipedia item last night about the history of NZ cycling awards, I noticed that the Lake Rd cycle lane was awarded New Zealand’s ‘Best Cycle Facility’ in 2008. How things have changed – and how they remain the same! I nominated the project back then. Lake Rd has always been the North Shore’s busiest cycle route, but before the cycle lane was installed it had the worst cycle crash records on the Shore – and highest number of vehicle ‘nose to tail’ crashes too. We had to battle to retain the cycle lane and new flush medians in the face of a well-managed public campaign to malign …
The other day, I set off early, dressed in my butterfly dress, pink helmet, and matching sandals. A picture in pink, ready for a string of meetings in town, on a perfect day for biking. It was a sunny start to the day. For one thing, the Devonport ferry was packed with bikes, and for another, Bike Auckland’s monthly Bike Breakfast, hosted by Duncan, announced its presence with stacks of bikes tethered outside Scarecrow Cafe. (Really? You haven’t been to one yet? Diary it now, 7.30 – 9.30 am, first Thursday of every month. That’ll be 5 May next time.) Then I stopped in at a few bike shops around the waterfront to ask them to promote the SeaPath …
[This is a cross-post from Transportblog’s Matt Lowrie, who rides Upper Harbour Drive regularly. We know many of you do too, and would really like to hear your thoughts on this so we can report back to AT and the Local Board.] Last week, the Upper Harbour Local Board passed a resolution (below) to try and get Auckland Transport to rip out recently installed cycle lanes near the intersection of Upper Harbour Dr (UHD) and Albany Highway. It’s a section of road that I am very familiar with as I use it regularly when I ride to work. That the Upper Harbour Local Board: request that Auckland Transport urgently revert to the board with an interim solution regarding …
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