Recently returned to Auckland from the Coromandel, where I worked over New Years serving drinks to muddy revellers at the Corogold Music Festival in Whitianga. While away I managed to squeeze in a visit to Cathedral Cove.
Photo credit: DOC website
I must say that Cathedral Cove has developed nicely as a visitor attraction over the last two decades or so, since I first started going there as a young sprog on summer holidays to Matarangi with my parents. Visitor facilities now provide interesting geological/cultural information on the wider area and a kiosk where you can buy coffee, sunscreen etc. Toilet facilities, while not ideal, have also been improved.
One aspect of Cathedral Cove that has hitherto been a let down, however, has been the traffic management. Long queues of cars used to circulate slowly up to the top of the hill past parked cars on the sides of a poorly formed road. Pedestrians would have to dive in and out of these cars as they wound their way up the hill. Cathedral Cove’s problems with traffic are really a sign that it is a victim of its own success: It is a widely popular destination for domestic and international tourists.
I’m pleased to say that some steps towards improving the traffic management at Cathdral Cove have taken place. The most significant initiative has been the formation of a temporary bus park and ride at the bottom of the hill as you enter the town, as illustrated in red/blue below. A bus then runs from the park and ride up to the top of the hill (where the Cathedral Cove walks start) about every 10-15 minutes.
The road has also been formed to a reasonable standard, with solid kerb/channels and yellow lines to prevent on-street parking. These represent steps in the right direction, because they help remove vehicles from the hill and create space for more “people friendly” activities. Nonetheless, mistakes have been made that should serve as a lesson for other areas of New Zealand that need to manage the effects of seasonal traffic demands.
Most crucially, the upgrade to the road did not make any provision for pedestrian facilities, as such pedestrians are still forced to mingle with traffic.
I’m not sure why TCDC decided to not provide a footpath up the hill (there seems to be space at almost all places along the route, and the road really could be narrower); it seems like a startling omission that results in a much higher risk of accidents. Aside from being much safer, a footpath would seem to be a useful all-year round facility, both for residents and for visitors (especially in the off-season when the bus park and ride is not operational). From what I saw almost as many people were walking up as using the park and ride.
Other areas where seasonal traffic management at Cathedral Cove could be improved include:
- Electronic parking information signs should be located at the entrance to Hahei, before the park and ride. There are signs advertising the park and ride, but none of these are linked to the availability of parking at the top of the hill. From what I saw, a lot of vehicles took their chances and drove past the park and ride and all the way to the top of the hill (where there is still about 25 car-parks available) only to find it full. They then had to wind their way back down the hill, to park somewhere else (some no doubt went all the way back to the park and ride). An electronic sign (linked to MeterEye type detectors) would stop much of this needless vehicle shennanigans.
- People should pay to park at the top of the hill. Quite simply, there is too much demand for parking at the top. When I was there I did not see any free spaces. Charging for parking would mean car-parks would be more likely to be allocated to the people who need them and also turnover more regularly. It would also create a revenue stream that TDC and/or DOC could use to fund ongoing improvements to the site.
- Bus stops could be formed at additional locations along the route between the park and ride and the top of the hill. I thought that a stop outside the shops at the bottom of the hill and around the Patricia Drive intersection would allow the bus to pick up pedestrians and locals making the trip, rather than just day-trippers coming into the town. These stop locations are illustrated below.
So as a case study in managing seasonal traffic, Cathedral Cove is instrumental because of both the good and bad initiatives that have been taken. The upgrade to the road (including removing on-street parking) and associated park and ride are welcome initiatives, but failing to install a footpath (at least on one side) when completing the road upgrade is a major error that TDCD (and residents and visitors) are likely to rue for many decades to come.
Aside from getting out there and installing a footpath, I’d suggest that the priorities for TCDC going forward are to 1) provide more timely information on when parking at the top is full; 2) charge for parking at the top (and use the revenue to fund further improvements to the site); and 3) add bus stops along the route from the park and ride to increase the coverage of the service.
Does anyone else have ideas on how TCDC could manage seasonal traffic at Cathedral Cove? Improving the way that we manage seasonal traffic issues is, I think, an interesting and understudied area.
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I like the feeder bus initiative at Cathedral Cove. My parking story from my holidays relates to Mangawhai Heads, where there is a decently sized carpark at the beach but then yellow dotted lines all the way back along the main road down to the beach (for about a kilometre at least).
What this means is that once the carpark is full, you’re really quite truly stuffed if you want to visit. Therefore people do circles around and around the carpark waiting for someone to leave, or park on the edge of the road ignoring the yellow lines.
I suspect there’d be a lot of public opposition to the concept of paying for parking at beaches, so you’d need to be careful how that was done. Not saying it’s a bad idea (I would have paid $5 at Mangawhai Heads to guarantee a space for the afternoon) but just you’d have to be careful how you went about it. Maybe have some free spots and some paid spots so people have the choice and can see the benefits in front of their eyes from charging for parking (i.e. empty spots).
Also agree on the need for good footpaths, although there’s something quite liberating walking down the middle of the road (as long as you know you’re safe from vehicles).
Re: public opposition to paying for parking: They do have several free options, it’s called the bus and/or walking. The reality is that the income profile at Hahei will be way, way above average. Low income households don’t tend to go on holidays and when they do they don’t tend to go to places like Hahei. So if we can charge for icecreams we can charge for parking. But I’m planning another post on parking myth-busters, which will consider this issue in more detail.
Yes, I also quite enjoy strolling down the middle of the road in the right environment, but children and older people are not so agile when it comes to dodging the crazy holiday camper vans. Also, there is no signs or design elements here to indicate that the space needs to be shared with pedestrians, so drivers quite understandably treat it just like a normal road where pedestrians and possums are in the same category.
With parking, what do you think of the “let’s put free and paid parking side by side” approach? Surely it’s a way to overcome public opposition by providing a choice, while at the same time educating the public about the benefits of paying for parking by having the spaces turn over much more regularly?
That’s what I’d do at the two park and ride busway stations. Have the closest 150 spaces at each station become pay – at say $3 a day. Then leave the rest free and see what happens. I would guess that over time there would be public demand for a greater and greater proportion of the carpark to become paid.
If the public opposition is insurmountable then I think it’s a good idea. But I don’t think it often is insurmountable: Papakura District Council went through a community consultation process and got pay parking at the Papakura Train Station. In Auckland the main barriers are political (elected and staff) not public, methinks.
Fixed costs and indivisibilities in collection of revenue means that a split between free/pay parking would probably be more efficient in in larger parking lots that have some economies of scale. At Cathedral Cove there’s only about 25 spots at the top, so if you’re going to charge for any you may as well charge for the lot, IMO.
Goodwork TCDC! Wonderful wonderful wonderful. The bus system is great.
Also, fantastic is the idea of parking money getting put back into the places (sites). Could really be put to good use in planting, visitor information, walkways. It would also reduce demand for parking space (increase demand for bus) and reduce the horrible intrusion on the environment (urban or natural) that is bare asphalt.
Yes TCDC should receive a bouquet for the bus park and ride. But they should also get a brickbat for not installing a footpath. Guess that’s a B- grade: Showing improvement but could do better.
Walking ofn the right hand side of the road (see photo) is a must. Walk towards traffic, do not have it at your back.
Normally yes, but in this situation the coastal side of the road had more opportunities to walk along the verge. Just not in the location where I took this photo, hence the folks are on the road.
Designate it as a shared space and low speed zone. At least during certain times.
That’s an interesting suggestion. I like the dynamic nature of the solution, because it is certainly over the summer periods when the majority of car versus pedestrian conflicts will occur.
However, I wonder whether the fact that the lack of visual/tactile cues that are normally associated with a shared space will mean drivers simply treat it like a normal local road? Any thoughts?
Perhaps some clever traffic calming measures are all that’s needed. To ensure motorists keep their speed down. I guess the cost of that would be weighed up against the cost of building a footpath.
How about making the carpark at the top of the hill disabled parking only and then you mightn’t need to build the footpath.
don’t follow?
Stu, if there was only disabled parking at the top of the hill then all the cars that drive up there to see if there is a free carpark when there aren’t any, will know at the bottom there isn’t one so they won’t drive up, so there will be less cars on the road making it safer for people to be walking up there on the road.
In winter when it didn’t matter you take the sign away at the bottom saying “Parking is for disabled access only. Walk or catch the bus.”
I hope that makes sense.
Perfect sense! And a good idea given the situation we now have. Of course I would have preferred to a proper, higher quality footpath was there from the outset (after all rough chip seal is not all that pleasant to walk on) but given the situation we’re now in I think it’s a very reasonable compromise.
There is another way to get to Cathedral Cove by walking along the beach which leaves from Hahei itself. You just walk to the end of the beach and then there is a little path which goes along the cliffs and eventually ends up at the Cathedral Cove carpark. From memory it adds about 30 minutes to the walk. It might be too much for some tourists but when I went there a lot of those visiting seemed young and spry and like they would be perfectly happy to walk for another 30 minutes or so – particularly if taking the bus would be just as slow. They could do a better job of advertising that alternative route on maps of the area, in the Information Centre etc (I wouldn’t have known about it but I was there with somebody who stays there often).
Yes you’re right about the walk along the coast being a great alternative and completely agree re: lack of signage. We would have used it if we had known about it. I only saw it now when I had a closer look on Google Earth.
There’s not even a sign at the top telling you that you can get to Hahei Beach along that way … 🙁