Comments (4)

By admin, May 22, 2013

For those who are curious, but haven’t been out that way recently, here are a few photos of the Grafton Gully Cycleway’s first stage (between Grafton Road, at the Business School, and Alten Road / Stanley Street).

Works to come also include cycleway changes to the Alten Road signals at the bottom. And of course, there’s 4 other stages to complete the whole route, plus AT’s Beach Road work… in the short run, Stage 1 especially may be much more popular with pedestrians than cyclists, so we have been keen to ensure it is wide enough for both.

NZTA in cooperation with CAA have in recent months also put a lot of thought into how to make the gradients as smooth as possible to ease your climb up the gully. We won’t be able to avoid steeper bits totally, but it gives us some confidence that the future rise from the sea-level to the Northwestern Cycleway at Ian McKinnon Drive will be over a much greater length than if one went the currently preferred* route of Anzac Avenue and Symonds Street. So hopefully, this will also make the ride up the hill overall less of a struggle.

*Well, preferred from a gradient point of view. Lots of people, especially those new to cycling, prefer not to ride in the heavy bus traffic on that route… – which is kinda the point of the whole Grafton Gully route!

Its exciting to see progress, but the coolest stuff is still to come, as we near Grafton Bridge and the top over the next year…

Comments (2)

By admin, May 13, 2013

From Bevan Woodward, SkyPath Trust

Council supports SkyPath:
Last week Council’s Strategy & Finance Committee voted to support Len Brown’s recommendation for Council staff to advance their work on SkyPath’s funding and delivery arrangements. This will then come back to Council for their consideration which if positive would enable SkyPath to be implemented.

Cost savings identified:
Beca Infrastructure have further analysed the bridge strengthening works required for SkyPath and, through an innovative solution, have significantly reduced the complexity and costs of this work. NZTA will now consider their financial contribution to these strengthening works.

The updated cost estimate (before NZTA’s contribution) is $30.5 million, this includes the landings at each end, special night lighting, security measures, observation decks and a contingency of $4 million.

Updated business case:
Auckland Transport has worked with Ernst & Young to update their business case. The low use/low growth patronage scenario now shows an overall surplus of circa $10 million. We are awaiting their figures for the high use/high growth patronage scenario.

Working with key stakeholders:
We have been in dialogue with the various stakeholder groups as we work on the detail of SkyPath’s landings at each end, see:
http://www.skypath.org.nz/project-status/consultation/

We have reviewed the Northcote Residents Association, St Marys Bay Association and Westhaven Marina Users Association’s submissions to Council which outlined why they are opposed to SkyPath. We believe that each of their concerns are addressed or can be resolved to enable SkyPath to proceed.

“SeaPath” to connect SkyPath to Takapuna:
Northcote Residents Association were keen for us to provide a seamless connection through to Takapuna so that there would be far fewer people using the streets of Northcote Point. Hence we developed “SeaPath” which is now with NZTA and Auckland Transport to develop, see:
http://www.skypath.org.nz/the-seapath/

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or feedback.

Comments (10)

By admin, May 10, 2013

Hello all riding on the Northwestern Cycleway – and between Pt Chevalier and Waterview on the “spur cycleway” along Great North Road.

Due to construction in the centre area of the Pt Chevalier Interchange, the footpath / cycleway there (shown in red at the right) will be closed until 2017. This means that the walk/cycleway through Unitec may get busier.

There have been some complaints in the past about cyclists riding past pedestrians in this area at unsafe (or simply startling) speeds. It would be good if everyone could look out for each other. Smiles work too.

To help, CAA has in recent months asked for a variety of safety measures in the area, running from fixing a variety of broken streetlights to adding additional signage and warning markings on roads and cycleways. Recently AT and the Well-Connected Alliance on our request also installed temporary “flexi-post” markers to get drivers to slow down / stay a bit further away from the narrowest part of the shared path along Great North Road.

[All images from the Well-Connected Alliance's Waterview Construction Newsletter]

Comments (4)

By admin, May 2, 2013

Orange and black signs have been put up on the cycleway/shared path today between Te Atatu and Great North Road as a reminder that construction work that will start on Monday 6 May.

There will be some changes to the shared path near the intersection of the causeway with Great North Rd. Cyclists and pedestrians will be transitioned up onto the T2 lane. There will still be full through-access for everyone.

Please just go easy on your speed while we all adjust to the changing layout. At off-peak times trucks will cross the shared path. Those crossings will be clearly indicated and monitored by our traffic managers to ensure your safety and that of the workers on site. We welcome your feedback at any time.

Comments (11)

By admin, April 22, 2013

Guest blog by Elizabeth Collins, NZTA

Hi everyone – a heads-up that work will begin in early May to upgrade SH16 and the shared path between Great North Road and Te Atatu.

I’m Elizabeth Collins from the NZ Transport Agency and also part of the Causeway Alliance who will be doing the upgrade work for the NZTA. We’re keen to keep you up to speed with the changes that you will notice on the shared path between May and the end of 2016. We’re also keen make sure you’ll be kept safe – and interruptions to your trip minimised – during the shared path and highway improvements.

It’s been hugely valuable for us to have had (and continue to have) input from Barbara, Max, Tommo and other CAA members to the shared path changes and info signs we are preparing for you. Feel free to send me (elizabeth.collins@sh16causeway.co.nz) your feedback and suggestions so that we can make your trip alongside SH16 as smooth as possible. A “no-surprises” approach is our favourite.

Separately, I’ll be writing a regular, brief email update about the project and particular aspects of it, so if you’d like to be added to the email list for that, please let me know. The content will vary from traffic info to construction insights, progress photos, and a window on the world of the project team who will be based next to the Te Atatu Pony Club from late May. Here’s a project fact for you for starters…one of our engineering geologists, Joanna, was telling me earlier this week about the Pleistocene, Holocene and Miocene-aged materials that form the base layers of the causeway. It’s incredible to think that Miocene materials are…20 million years old.

Meanwhile, down the road at the Lincoln Road Interchange, Lisa would like to let you know that the concrete for the new shared path has recently been poured for part of the new shared path across the Henderson Creek Bridge and that section is on track for opening early next year.

Thanks for your patience while we upgrade the SH16, shared path and causeway between Te Atatu and Great North Road.

Safe travels

Elizabeth