November and December are very busy months for all of us – including Council, Auckland Transport, and thus Bike Auckland. With so much going on, and limited time to take it all in, here’s a quick roundup of what’s happening in the City Centre. Downtown (& Quay Street) Ramped Up Auckland is embarking on an ambitious redevelopment programme for its central waterfront, between Princes Wharf and Commerce Street (just east of the Ferry Terminal). While many of these upgrades have been signalled for a while, Council has called for them to be in place for 2021 – in time for the 36th America’s Cup, the APEC Forum, and Te Matatini. …
Bike Auckland
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. …
It was all smiles and all kinds of bike styles at the opening of the latest link in the bike network on Friday 30 November. The prize: 800m of brand new smooth wide path at the city end of the Northwestern Cycleway, which crucially cuts out the up-and-over on the Newton Rd viaduct and shaves two and a half minutes off the journey. Officially, this is known as the Ian McKinnon Drive Cycleway – although, as several people noted, it really needs a catchier name, probably one without ‘drive’ in it! (One suggestion we quite liked, via Twitter: given it’s at the top end of Dominion Road and the man …
Or: Herne Bay, a template for safer roads? The 2014 Urban Cycleway Fund (UCF) really kickstarted the process of an increasingly connected-up series of safe cycling routes for Auckland. Even with many routes still not built, there’s been real growth in people making more trips by bike, reflecting what is known as the ‘network effect’. We’ve supported the approach of building from the centre of the city outwards, because the centre of the Auckland Isthmus has the highest potential of people wanting to cycle, and this concentrated effect is needed to overcome the status quo in a way that a more incremental, spread-out process will not. But we also know …
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