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By Max, May 12, 2012

The Triangle Road cycle lanes have finally been upgraded – and one of the most frustrating experiences for local Auckland cyclists is over!

As many of our readers will know from blog posts on here, articles elsewhere in the cycling world, or from personal experience – riding the Triangle Road cycle lanes in West Auckland during peak hours was a quite aggravating experience.

If you weren’t being endangered by some ruthless driver entering the cycle lane (we heard of at least two such crashes) then you normally found the lane blocked by cars – often dozens of them, stretching for hundreds of meters before the Lincoln Road intersection. Larger signs? Didn’t work against drivers determined to get onto the motorway any way they could. Police enforcement? Not enough staffing resources to make a dent in driver behaviour.

A year or so after the problem really became public, the advocacy work from Cycle Action Auckland and individual users, and the design and construction efforts from Auckland Transport, have now finally born fruit. Since this week the cycle lane is divided off from car traffic by solid rubber kerbs, further emphasised by flexible bollards. Auckland Transport also undertook some road widening and car park relocation (which is why the project ended up longer and more costly than just adding the dividers) to reduce the temptation for drivers to feel that they “needed” to enter the cycle lane.

We are already getting a lot of excitement from cyclists like “It’s heaps better. Cycling up there is almost fun with no cars in your way. Auckland Transport deserves praise.“

It was a long one coming, and an at times frustrating project – but it’s great to know we have a permanent solution which seems to work just as intended. Cyclists now have a free route again, and we have an example project for other locations.

Welcome to what possibly is the first “protected cycle lane” in Auckland.

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By Max, May 1, 2012

A lot has been written here and on other cycling blogs about whether “just paint” cycle lanes are sufficient for Auckland.

Normally, these discussions centre around novices and less confident cyclists who feel that painted cycle lanes alone do not offer them enough security. However, sometimes we also have to talk about places where a cycle lane is a problem even for more confident cyclists – because motorists blatantly ignore it.

Clark Street West in New Lynn has (had?) such an issue. The westbound cycle lane near the train station, at the intersection with Rankin Ave, was quickly discovered by car drivers as another queueing lane. Because it was wider than a usual cycle lane (the designers trying to be nice to cyclists!), it was also sufficient for a CAR to fit in. And since the traffic lights often give a green for left turns, but a red for straight through, drivers had an instant incentive to illegally enter the cycle lane and bypass the queue.

Once one car driver entered the lane, all restraint was gone for the others as well, and shortly afterwards, we had a cycle lane blocked chocker-full with cars. Cycle Action didn’t need any further evidence than a 5 minute period stopped near the intersection during a ride (photos at the right) to realise that there was a real problem here. We raised this with Auckland Transport, using those photos, and pointed out the implications for cycling and road safety. What should be done? was the question.

After that, it got a bit quiet for a while, while Auckland Transport investigated what to do, and CAA had many other projects to work on.

But now, we are please to report that Auckland Transport has installed lane delineators and flexible bollards on the cycle lane edge! You can see these on the separate photo below (click twice for a large version) – the delineators are basically raised humps aligned along the cycle lane edge line, reinforced further by the flexipost bollards at the limit line. We think it looks great – and we and Auckland Transport now would like to know from you how it works for you:

• What is your experience – do motorists stay out of the cycle lane consistently now?
• Do you feel safer and more protected riding there, or is it the same, all said?
• Does it work well for cyclists who continue straight through or want to turn right?
• Does the lane still work well if more than one cyclist rides in it at the same time?

Please comment on what you like and possibly don’t like about the treatment in the comments section, so we can feed it back to the designers.

If people like them, and they show a good track record in terms of maintance and preventing motorist misbehaviour, we may well see them in other problem spots around Auckland.

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By Max, April 17, 2012

Having no success convincing family and friends to “Give it a go!” with cycling?

Then you are probably talking to the “interested but concerned” part of the population – those 50-60% who kinda like the idea of cycling, but aren’t happy riding on busy roads – and won’t change their minds just because of some green paint on the road. Or because you tell them how the risks of cycling are overstated in public perception. They need something more convincing.

Enter projects like AMETI. Cycle Action recently met with the design team for the second phase of that project, the future busway corridor from Pakuranga to Botany. The discussions about cycling facilities in this new corridor were very heartening, as the project team from Auckland Transport and their design consultants clearly “get cycling” – not only the current situation we have now in Auckland, but also the way Auckland could be for cyclists.

Following their recent work, Auckland Transport has now released concept drawings for the busway, which includes examples showing how the cycle facilities would be integrated. The team is targeting those people as future users who currently don’t cycle (except maybe for some limited recreational riding) and who want high-quality facilities before choosing to cycle for transport – in short, they are aiming at the wide majority of Aucklanders.

Below, we show some of the designs the project team is considering for the project:

Continue reading 'AMETI busway’s cycling designs revealed'»

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By SteveS, April 14, 2012

Cyclists navigating Glenfield Rd between Sunset Rd and James St South will be doing battle with roadworks as well as motorised traffic over the next few months. We’ve had it tough on this stretch of road, particularly northbound heading up the hill towards Sunset with two lanes of fast-moving traffic and no space for bikes. But when the roadworks are complete, it’ll all be worth it.

Cycle Action has been engaging with the then North Shore City Council and more recently Auckland Transport on this project since 2010. We were delighted back then when reviewing the concept plans to note a focus on not just improving traffic flow, but also on improving cyclist and pedestrian safety.

A recent review of the construction plans confirmed to us that the cycle safety measures have survived intact, and on completion we can look forward to:

• Near-continuous on-road cycle lanes in both directions
• Advanced stop boxes for cyclists at the Glenfield/Wairau intersection
• Strategically located cyclist grab rails.

Even better, the design team has been able to achieve cycling, pedestrian and bus priority measures without sacrificing general traffic capacity, heading off adverse criticism from motorists which has jeopardised other Shore cycling projects.

Our one quibble is that the project stops just short of Sunset Rd itself, so the intersection is not included in scope. While we have a northbound cycle lane to the intersection, it’s difficult for cyclists to turn right into Sunset across multiple lanes of traffic. It would be great to have more advanced stop boxes, and perhaps a formalised hook turn to assist. We’ll be raising this with Auckland Transport, and hope that it will be considered as Albany Highway to the north is renovated, or the Glendhu Rd connection established.

But overall we’re delighted that another little piece in the Regional Cycling Network will be completed. Glenfield Rd is a major arterial not just for motorists, but also for cyclists travelling between North Harbour, Glenfield, Birkenhead and on to the ferry terminals. Every little bit helps.

You can find more information about Glenfield Rd Stage 4 on the Auckland Transport website.

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By Max, April 9, 2012

Over the next days, CAA will do a series of 4-5 blog posts with details about the safety works Auckland Transport is planning on Tamaki Drive this winter. After Easter, Cycle Action will provide input to Auckland Transport about these designs (some of which CAA has already been involved in developing). Please feel free to contact us (preferably in the blog post comments) to give us your opinion on these works, and what we should be raising about them with AT.

We will discuss works from east to west, and this 5th and last post is about work planned at Watene Crescent, and about works at The Strand.

Continue reading 'Tamaki Drive works V – Watene Crescent & The Strand'»