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By admin, January 18, 2013

Were you part of the crowds that headed to the city’s Eastern beaches over the holiday break? Thousands – locals, visitors and tourists – enjoyed cycling, running or walking along the waterfront or just hung out at the beaches and cafes. It’s great to see family groups out on their bikes – even though at busy times, the shared path is clearly inadequate to safely accommodate the growing numbers of walkers and their dogs, cyclists, runners, families, and roller bladers.  

The creation of a two-way separated cycle path is a solution proposed in a new masterplan for Tamaki Drive (scroll down to bottom of their page) just released by the Orakei Local Board.  

“Tamaki Drive – A Place for People: A Masterplan for the Future” is the board’s big picture vision for the future of Tamaki Drive. The Masterplan proposes a potential two-way cycle lane on the seaward side of Tamaki Drive, adjacent to but separated from a widened pedestrian promenade. The concept looks like a huge improvement on the substandard shared path we’ve got used to.  And the potential for a continuous well -planned off-road cycle facility to eventually run from the city centre waterfront to St Heliers is really inspirational. Wouldn’t that be cool?

It’s also neat how the international examples (shown with great photographs in the report) all provide dedicated cycleways – if this is the kind of Tamaki Drive we want to aspire too, then we are on the definitely on the right track.

It’s just a concept at this stage – the hopes and plans of the local board, rather than an agreed & funded project – and the Masterplan doesn’t give any detailed plans. The cycle path would (at least initially) only be provided “where we have space to do it”, and the concept art shows a cycle path which is still pretty close to the doors of parked cars – which is one of the hazards of the existing layout. And it is likely many cyclists would continue to prefer riding on the road, unless the dedicated cycleway is built to a very high standard. But clearly these details will go through much more detailed design work and consultation before anything is built. So even with these caveats – it is very exciting that a dedicated cycleway is a core element of their future Tamaki Drive vision as well as ours.

The Masterplan came out of a series of “Visioning Workshops” last year which brought together many different community group including local Cycle Action members. Although it’s very high level, the Masterplan is a great step forward towards some holistic planning for the future of Tamaki Drive as an asset for Auckland – not just a busy road corridor and parking strip.

As an example, the plan even encourages parking removal from Tamaki Drive, which is a big step forward (though to be exact, the plan suggests to relocate these car parks to locations further back from the waterfront, not remove them altogether).

Congratulations to the Orakei Local Board for leading this new approach to long-term planning for Tamaki Drive. So what do you think of it?

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By BarbC, December 12, 2012

Auckland Transport is proposing to extend the boat trailer parking ban on Tamaki Drive and wants to know what we think. The plan is to extend the ban for an extra 57m towards the City, and 79m towards Mission Bay. These extensions would take the ban around the corner approaching the Landing and beyond Ferg’s Kayaks..

We are pretty happy with the plan as it deals with the major areas where trailers continue to be a safety hazard generally because the trailers are wider than the marked parking lane so extend into the travel lane of cyclists as a pinch point- or equally risky – are parked with one wheel up on the footpath cycle lane.

We are aware that parked boat trailers have been an issue near the Ngapipi Rd intersection, so will ask AT to monitor the extent and safety of boat trailer parking on the full road reserve – ie berms and carriageway from Ngapipi to Watene Cres from now until the end of February. At the same time we are hoping that the parking enforcement staff will stay on the job in a diligent and effective manner.

We want to hear from you on this. Please log in either a ‘like’ or comment by Friday lunchtime.

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By admin, November 29, 2012

Hello all – we’re a bit quiter on the blog right now, preparing for the Christmas Do, and trying to juggle all the large and small projects that we have up in the air. But we thought we’d tell you about two nice improvements for Tamaki Drive:

• Some months ago, 3 street lights were placed smack dab into the cycle section of the shared path in the Okahu Bay section, west of Kelly Tarlton. We pointed out that this was a rather… strange choice, especially seeing that you only need to go a wee bit further along Tamaki Drive to see street lights placed at the back of the path, where they don’t constrict the footpath for cyclists, pedestrians and people with prams. Do their credit, Auckland Transport acted soon, and removed the offending poles again.
• And for those who prefer on-road – after continued advocacy from CAA and individuals, Auckland Transport is now proposing to further extend the trailer parking restrictions in the area between Ngapipi Road and Okahu Bay by another ~150m (consultation is currently underway). Together with good enforcement, those dodge situations where trailers stick out far into the traffic lane should now be reduced even further.

If you don’t ride on Tamaki Drive, take it as a sign that raising issues works. If you are persistent enough. Talk to AT and Council about what bugs you.

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By admin, November 16, 2012

Cyclists and friends of Jane Bishop, including two fellow nurses who moved with her to New Zealand, met last Wednesday to remember the event three years ago.

We paid tribute to Jane, and other cyclists killed on the road since (like the – to us – nameless woman who died at Tamaki Drive / The Strand in 2011) and reflected on what has been achieved for cycling safety since. Christopher Dempsey read several poems, and the ghost bike received fresh flowers.

Give their memories a nod when you ride by.

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By BarbC, November 13, 2012

We are sorry for this short notice – but you know that Cycle Action is always on the wing!

This is important – we are having a memorial ride to remember Jane and to celebrate the achievements of Auckland Transport in making good the safety hazards at Kelly Tarlton’s Headland. We are hugely grateful for the work of Irene Tse and her team in the Road Corridor Safety at AT. They have consulted, planned, found the budget, consulted again and worked with superb professional dedication to make a difference in removing many of the cycle hazards at the Headland.

Jane is a living presence with us in Auckland. Please join the bike ride tomorrow night – it will be short, flowers will be provided at the meeting place, and a short poem and thanks will be read and said by Jane’s bike at the Headland. Please come and spread the word!

What: Third annual Jane Bishop Memorial Ride
When: Wednesday 14th November.
Where: Meet @ Britomart 5.30pm for 5.45pm start.

Ride from Britomart out to Okahu Point along Tamaki Drive, stopping opposite the ghost bike on the corner. Traffic will be rush hour, so ride either on the shared path, or on the road, which-ever is your preference. Brief speech, then minute’s silence, then disperse.

Special thanks to Christopher Dempsey for organising this event.