Bike Auckland was recently interviewed by Stuff for their article about the Carrington Development remaining closed despite much of it being finished. We share our comments in full below for those who would like more detail.
The Unitec cycleway is absolutely tantalising. We can see it sitting there, ready to bring safe cycling, wheeling, and scooting to Aucklanders. With the current acute fuel crisis, people are struggling today. Bike trips are already up 20%, and many more would join in if they had a safe route. That’s why Bike Auckland is asking for these in-progress cycleway projects to be completed as quickly as possible, to help ease the pressure on Aucklanders.
Because this is a private construction site, we have to wait for the whole construction project to finish. There is still construction traffic in the area even though the cycleway itself is done. Once done, it will be handed over to Auckland Council whose job it is to look after cycleways in use.
The demand is there, people are asking for it, and the alternative routes are far from ideal. We urge everyone involved to move at pace for the sake of Aucklanders suffering at the pump. In particular, we ask Auckland Council to cut through the paperwork swiftly when the handover happens so we can finally open the route. We promise to be the ones celebrating the loudest at the opening!
Notes: On the map, the red road is the closed one. Farm Rd has a bike lane like the rest of the development will have, and is open as long as you can navigate round the Unitec buildings at the western end of it.
