Some good news from AT this week as they’ve announced that work has started in Mangere on part of the Te Ara Mua – Future Streets project which aims “transform to the streets of Māngere and make it safer and easier for people to travel around, especially by walking and cycling.”

Works have commenced this week on a community trail and improvements to Mascot Avenue which will expand walking and cycling ways in Mangere as part of the Te Ara Mua – Future streets project.

Auckland Transport and the Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board are working together on the Te Ara Mua – Future Streets project to make it safer and easier for people to travel around Mangere Central, especially by foot and bike.

The works along Mascot Avenue will see wayfinding installed, improved pedestrian and cycling facilities, dedicated cycle lanes and planting and street tree improvements.

The community trail which leads through the walkways from the back of the town centre to Windrush Close, Pershore Place and on to Mascot Avenue will also have wayfinding installations, improvements to plantings and street trees as well as improvements to the reserves and fitness equipment will be installed.

All this work will ensure these busy routes will be safer and fun for all those who use them, whether they are walking or cycling to the shops for leisure or dropping their children to school.

Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board Chair Lemauga Lydia Sosene says the project is seeing great progress. “It’s fantastic seeing the community’s suggestions finally coming to life. The whole Future Streets project will give our community more options for getting around this neighbourhood. More importantly, it’ll make it much safer, particularly for children, parents and seniors walking to and from school, housing and local community facilities”.

AT Cycling and Walking manager Kathryn King says “It’s great to see work progressing on this project which will make it so much easier to get around Mangere.

“Improving access to the town centre for people of all ages is a focus of the Future Streets initiative and is part of the wider AT strategy to improve the transport network by making it safer and easier to walk and bike throughout Auckland.”

Here’s what Mascot Ave is expected to look like. Are these the first dedicated on road cycle lanes outside of the City or City Fringe?

Te Ara Mua – Mascot Ave

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27 comments

  1. One day, before I die, I hope i see the day when everyone can choose whether to wear a helmet or not without any prosecution while riding their bikes.

  2. Why are there both a shared path and protected cyclelane on the same street – is it so the on-street cyclelane can be easily removed again for parking?

      1. User skill level
        Child / novice / mobility scooters on shared path, this where the change starts
        Experienced / competent / commuter / Lycra cyclist go on the road – this is transport mode choice.
        First let riding be fun and safe, Second don’t piss off pedestrians because you want to bike fast.

        1. Bingo. Often strangely forgotten in the whole debate. With an ageing population (mangere being one of the exceptions to this), the ability for mobility scooter/ wheelchair users/ pram users to safely pass one another without jumping onto the carriageway is an important benefit of increased path widths.

        2. Yep, we did the same for Ilam Rd in Christchurch too; separated cycleways behind kerb blocks, plus a shared footpath (two primary/intermediate schools nearby). I also find the shared path a useful contraflow link to get to the path across Ilam Fields when coming from the north.

  3. Fantastic. A ‘liveable city’ shouldn’t just be for the leafy suburbs. This could be the start of a city-wide transformation…

    1. Yea we’re overflowing with separated cycle paths and street improvements here in Glendowie. Yup. Definitely livable.

  4. I’m a bit worried about that picture – why isn’t the planting used to protect the cyclists from the traffic. Better than a painted line! Seems like a list opportunity.

      1. True.. but the planting would be better positioned between the cycle lane and the road (making an even better barrier). All that’s needed to separate the cycle lane and shared path effectively is a very simple low height (or tactile) separator.

    1. Its for affordability I think. Looking at the plan the cycle lanes are being added to the existing roadway without moving the kerbs, those simple concrete things are cheap, easy and narrow. A planter section would be four or five times the width in the road and much more expensive, especially if it meant moving the kerb. Looks like the planting is going in the existing berm, and the shared path is just an enhancement of the footpath.

      A cheap, effective and pragmatic design if you ask me. The kind of thing that could be rolled out across dozens of suburban roads.

  5. This is great news. I’m glad that AT’s taking some steps in the direction of walkability / cycleability throughout the city. (With a lot of community buy-in, as this BikeAKL post shows.) Suburbs down south could really benefit from cycle investments – they’ve got a favourable mix of wide roads and flat terrain. Here’s hoping that Mangere is the first, not the last, model community!

  6. Support wide footpaths but these should not be “shared” paths when cycle lanes are in place. Footpaths are for people on foot, children on small bikes and disabled people using mobility devices. Footpaths need to be wide to accommodate all these users but ordinary cyclists should stay on the road as the law requires, it’s safer for cyclists and for pedestrians.

    1. I imagine that most people riding will stick to the new cycleways. So you will only get a few slower and less-confident riders (including kids). I suspect that will be fewer people footpath riding than currently riding there (and with a wider path, the conflicts will be fewer), so win-win.

      1. Exactly! That’s the good thing about the shared path plus cycle lane design. Safer for all and I reckon it should be the standard design for all major roads.

  7. From Weymouth, through Clendon, up to Mountford Park Manurewa there is a dedicated seperated cycle way which has been there for over 25 years. It’s predominantly used to connect to the Jamrs Cook High School, however it’s recently been extended on road (unseperated) up to Manurewa.

  8. Is Mascot Ave wide enough to include some sections for parking, as there is on Puhinui Rd, Papatoetoe? There are a few houses and a church on Mascot Ave which regularly hosts events (such as kava nights, church services etc) and require visitors to park on the road. I personally think having dedicated cycle lanes and wide pedestrian walkways are a positive. But unless the community is made aware of these changes, a whole lot of people will likely just park all over the cycle lanes (as they do in parts of Papatoetoe).

  9. I live in these parts of Mangere and hate what they have done with the streets. Seriously how many people you see on bikes in Mangere? Families here travel in big cars, they cant afford to have bikes for all members of the family. Pisses me off now that motorists have to wait behinds buses to pick up and unload passengers as the roads are now narrowed. Even recycle pick ups and rubbish collection you have to wait behind, holding up more traffic. I like Mangere for its openess and wide streets…now you are making them cramped up and ugly. Those who decided for these cycle barriers to go, do you even live in the neighbourhood? Do you ride your bike around here? Mangere is a busy area, close to airport and motorways. Making the roads here more narrow with stupid colour coded patterns is not making traffic flow smoother or even safer. Speed humps, fine…but everywhere in Mangere is getting excessive. I drive through North Shore and out west each day and see the major difference in our roads. Stop clogging up our streets! Sit outside and observe how many cyclist there are in Mangere… so much money spent on narrow roads and speed bumps…yet we are having more flooded areas than before??

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