This is Part 2 of our series wrapping up the year and in this post I’m looking at Walking and Cycling. You can see Part 1 on public transport here.

We finished 20156 with the fantastic Lightpath and Nelson St cycleway and 2016 kicked on from there with more good progress – including right at the end of the year AT announcing the completion of the Nelson St route, something I’ll cover in the new year. So, here’s my summary.

Quay St cycleway

We ended 2015 with consultation on the Quay St cycleway and by July this year it was officially opened by then Prime Minister John Key, Transport Minister Simon Bridges and former Mayor Len Brown.

A number of cycleways have automated counters, and AT have installed more to help measure the impacts of unprecedented investment currently going in but the Quay St cycleway is the first in Auckland to have a counter on it showing how many trips there have been. And the number of trips has been rising steadily. In October just under three months after opening the counter hit 50,000. Then just another two months later it reached the 100,000 milestone. With the warmer weather the daily numbers have been frequently above 1,000 and so it’s possible we’ll see it surpass 200,000 before the end of summer.

In further good news, AT announced that work starts in February to extend cycleway to just short of the intersection with The Strand and will be extended past that as part of the Eastern Path project.

Skypath

In the middle of 2015 we were ecstatic when Skypath was granted consent but we expected appeals from a very small but vocal group of people who opposed it, primarily on Northcote Point. And as expected, those appeals came. During 2016 two of the three groups opposing the project dropped their appeals. That left just one small group of local residents to take the fight to the environment court in November. But only a few days in the judge stopped the hearing and verbally said the consent would be issued, and without any of the crazy demands the opponents to the project were seeking.

In mid-December the formal ruling was released and was very critical of the appeal including comments like.

In the overall analysis, we felt unconvinced by many of the claims of the residents about the existing environment, which unfortunately we considered had been viewed somewhat through “rose tinted glasses”

With the consent out of the way, hopefully 2017 will see progress made towards finally building it.

In what will be linked to Skypath, the NZTA consulted on Seapath too. We haven’t heard the outcome of the consultation yet.

Te Ara Ki Uta Ki Tai

In December, the first stage of Te Ara Ki Uta Ki Tai (the path of land and sea), formerly known as the Eastern Path and the Glen Innes to Tamaki Dr shared path, was opened. Stage one is from Merton Rd to St Johns Rd. Bike Auckland has some good coverage of the event.

Stage 3, widening of the Orakei Basin boardwalk should be starting soon while Stage 2, from St Johns Rd to the Orakei Basin is expected to start during 2017

Waterview Shared Path

At the beginning of 2016 work started on the Waterview Shared Path from Alan Wood Reserve, over the rail line, through Harbutt and Phyllis reserves, Unitec and over to New North Rd at about Alford St via a 16m high, 90m long bridge across Oaklely Creek.

Franklin Rd

The upgrade of Franklin Rd has been the subject of numerous debates and design revisions, including at one point only catering for “confident cyclists”. But in the end AT were able to find a decent design for the project. This is part of a wider upgrade of Franklin Rd and includes improving utilities. Work on the road itself should start in 2017.

Consultations galore

A lot has been happening behind the scenes too with a huge number of consultations this year for projects that are expected to start construction over the next year or so as AT continue to ramp up to make the most of the Government’s Urban Cycleway Fund. I’m bound to have missed some but they’ve included:

There have been so many, I’m sure I’ve missed some, especially some of the smaller ones.

Usage

Of course, one of the points of investing in more cycling is to get more people using bikes and on that front we’re seeing some good results. For example, at Kingsland on the NW cycleway, usage is the highest it’s ever been and well ahead of what we’ve seen before thanks to the addition of cycleways like Lightpath and Nelson St.

Of course, there have been many other things that have happened over the year and too. Are there any key changes I’ve missed? You can also see Bike Auckland’s summary here.

Tomorrow’s wrap up will focus on roads

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11 comments

    1. They always seem to have different bikes and helmets on for each opening, which suggest they don’t have their own. Cycling is for other people it seems. Good to see them thinking outside their own shoes.

  1. There’ll be a lot of cars pulling over and stopping for a while in that Franklin Rd cycle lane, and they’ll only get a few visits from a parking warden each day.

  2. Sitting upstairs on the mana bis to hamilton and there is a steady trickle of bikes on the cycle way. There is a lot of hope for cycling in this little city.

  3. Those Northcote people gave a whole new level of meaning to CAVEs.
    My other favourite of 2016 was the Grafton residents who opposed double decker buses because people could look into other’s house fronts! The mind boggles.

    1. Really for Grafton? Wow, just wow. Anyone trying to get through positive improvements in this country deserve medals for some of the opposition they face.

      May be a research paper here: Does conservatism hold back NZ productivity?

  4. I would like to suggest that designers include more tunnels as a quicker and much cheaper way to get people across to the platform
    Up and over 3 flights of stairs or long winding ramps is not user friendly.
    Morningside and G. I. have good tunnels.

  5. The big saviour for the Skypath winning its appeal was undoubtedly the PAUP becoming operative this year.

    If you read the Skypath appeal judgement, basically the Northcote folks appeal strategy was blind sided (absolutely, and completely) by the PAUP.
    Due its clauses allowing walking and cycling as of right unless specifically excluded.
    This outcome of them being so completely outgunned is odd given the supposed strength of their “legal guns”.

    The PAUP becomeing mostly operative this year meant that Skypath changed overnight from a “non-compliant” activity to a discretionary one.
    And the judge therefore assessed Skypath against the new rulebook, not the old one.

    Which meant that all the Northcote folks could do was to “tinker about” in their appeal with the conditions, not question its right to be built.
    Which was a fundamental game changer as all along, they questioned its right to exist.

    *IF* they had not dragged the appeal out so much as they did, then they would have been appealed and heard under the old district plans and they might have got their way. As it was they very much scored an own goal here by their tactics.

  6. Deferred construction for Mt Albert is certainly a good sign. The old concrete pavement is hardly a surprise.
    Progress on the waterview shard path is glacial. Construction of the railway bridge abutments is now visible and there is a pier under construction for the waterview bridge. The tunnels will be open first.

  7. Looking forward to seeing some improvements on cycle ways from Otahuhu/Papatoetoe to Penrose as this is a shocking stretch of road (GSR) and such a put off for cycles.

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