You may have heard rumours already – the Waitemata Local Board area is getting their own Greenways scheme! Walk & cycle routes connecting our green spaces, and aimed at being useable by walkers and bike riders of all ages and skill levels. A bit different from the Regional Cycle Network, which prioritises commuter-type cycle routes more – Greenways projects are more about being out and about in your neighbourhood, about local trips – convenience, but not in a hurry.
Like all good transformative projects, the Waitemata Greenways network thinks big, but starts with some realistic first steps.
The project will, to start, prioritise routes that mainly traverse local parks and reserves and don’t require (much) on-road work – thus making these stages independent of the (always tight) walking & cycling budgets. Instead, the Local Board has set aside some of their own discretionary funding – $150,000 for the initial phase. We are excited to hear about the first project – a rebuild of the Cox Bay Boardwalk, widening it from 1.2m to 2.5m, and turning it into a shared path. In the longer term, this same Greenway is to connect with Grey Lynn Park, and eventually all the way to the Northwestern Cycleway.
Projects on the priority list are:
G1 – Grey Lynn Coxs Bay Reserve – Grey Lynn Park – Arch Hill – Nixon Park
G2 – Parnell Parks Link: Auckland Domain – Parnell Road – Scarborough / Alberon Rerserves – Hobson Bay / Point Resolution – Tamaki Drive – Waipapa Valley Newmarket Park – Parnell Tunnel – Auckland Domain – Quay and Learning Quarters
G3 – Coastal: Point Chevalier – Meola Reef – Westmere – Coxs Bay Reserve – Herne Bay – Point Erin Park – Westhaven – Harbour Bridge Crossing or Victoria Park
G4 – Waiorea to K. Road: Meola Reef – MOTAT – Western Springs – Arch Hill Reserve – North Western Cycleway – Newton – Karangahape Road
G5 – Ponsonby Coxs Bay Reserve – Ponsonby – Freemans Bay – Victoria Park
G6 – Crummer RoadArch Hill – Crummer Road – Grey Lynn – Ponsonby – Western Park
Sorry about the relatively low map image quality – when official consultation starts soon, we will be able to point you to higher-quality maps which we can’t upload here due to file size limits. The Local Board promise that generous time will be given for publicising the scheme and to allow public input, possibly until February.
Three cheers for the Waitemata Local Board for pushing forward with this exciting vision.
