After the post a few days ago about cycling things happening in West Auckland, this last weekend I had a look at what is being constructed in the east of former Auckland City (click through twice for larger photos):

On Tamaki Drive, the works around Kelly Tarlton have been slow, what with winter being particularly hideous and rainy recently. The new bus stops however – which will allow most bus activity to be recessed away from the carriageway – are almost finished.

The new pedestrian crossings are also taking shape, as you can also see in the photos (CAA and some cycling groups riding there have been keen to ensure that the new crossings don’t end up new pinch points).

I suspect that the bitumen “hump” on the crossings are just temporary measures – and there’s a lot to be done yet until all is sorted, and the new cycle lanes can be marked.

Nearby, on Orakei Road, the new bridge over the railway line has been nearly completed.

As you can see, the geometries of building one bridge while not (yet) removing the old bridge seem to have resulted in walkers and cyclists having a pretty wide off-road path available on the eastern side. That says “future potential” to me…!

Underneath, the new walk/cycleway is not yet complete, but a recent information board update confirms they are working on it.

You may remember how this almost-disaster turned out to be an example of forward thinking, when the decision not to provide a walk/cycleway was changed at the 11th hour.

For now, the underpass link will be only of use for the occasional walker or cyclist, as there is no connecting route, and no big development west of the road.

But when we will finally build the planned link across the causeway to Tamaki Drive – well, then it will suddenly become a key feature of a new route to the CBD and the waterfront, avoiding a crossing of busy Orakei Road.

Piece 23,517 of the “cycling city” puzzle falling into place.

There’s also a few cycling-related works further east on Tamaki Drive that I did not have the time to get to. Any further works in the area important for cycling that I have not covered?

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4 Responses to “In brief: some [more] things getting built…”

1. Rtc says:

   August 3, 2012 at 12:12 pm

   Those buildouts look new? I don’t recall them being there on Tamaki drive or are they being removed? They look pretty unsafe for cyclists as they stand.
   • Max says:

     August 3, 2012 at 1:11 pm

     Hi RTC – yes, they are new. We weren’t all that happy with them either when we looked at the design (check our earlier Tamaki Drive posts for more on this), but Auckland Transport considers them required for pedestrian safety. We did achieve that they agreed to provide at least 4.5m space kerb-to-kerb (equivalent to a cycle lane width and a normal lane).
     • rtc says:

       August 4, 2012 at 3:44 am

       I guess as long as the cycle lanes are clearly indicated as curving out around the buildouts it can be a workable situation, the problem will be if the lane simply hits the lumps (as currently is the case) and you’re then expected to exit the lane into the car lane.
2. Julie says:

   August 4, 2012 at 6:44 pm

   Max, you are onto it. Thank you for all the work you do making riding safe for Cyclists.