If you live or move through the area of Point Chev to Westmere, 2025 is your year for easier, breezier transport choices. The Point Chevalier to Westmere Improvements Project will be complete in the first half of 2025. The great news is that smooth new footpaths and bike paths on Meola Road and Point Chevalier Road are open. People can walk, scoot, roll and bike them right now. Auckland Transport have removed traffic management for a ‘cone-free Christmas’. There are still a few finishing touches to come in the New Year, so take care at roundabouts, intersections and driveways.
It’s brilliant to see this piece of safe infrastructure coming to fruition. It’s a great design, which evolved over several years with extensive consultation with the community. Among other things, locals asked for more trees, more bike parking, and an efficient ‘dig once’ approach.
Perhaps you’ve been waiting for this with bated breath. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about exploring more of Tāmaki Makaurau at a human pace. Maybe you’ve been meaning to get active in 2025. Here’s how Meola Road and Point Chev Road bike paths can help you get where you’re going.
Local attractions are now more accessible by bike and scooter
In the immediate vicinity, you’ll be able to safely pedal to:
- sports games and playgrounds at Sedddon Fields and Walker Park
- the dog park and Meola Reef reserve
- Auckland Zoo
- Motat 2
- Western Springs Park
- Westmere village
- Point Chevalier town centre
- all the little ‘tram stop’ shops on Point Chevalier Road between Great North Road and Meola Road.
Plus almost all the way to popular Point Chevalier Beach and Coyle Park. (Heads up: there’ll be free Bike Valet parking at the Big Gay Out on 16 February.)
Once you’re on the Northwestern Shared Path, you’re on a connected citywide cycle network
Familiar with the iconic Northwestern Shared Path that runs alongside SH16 all the way from Westgate to the city centre? Then you’ll see how this project expands local access to the wider bike network, and vice versa.
Once you’re on the Northwestern Path, Tāmaki Makaurau is your oyster. You can head east to city centre locations (using the City Centre Loop). And beyond the centre, along Tāmaki Drive and via Te Ara ki Uta ki Tai as far as Glen Innes. Alternatively, you can go northwest toward Te Atatū and as far as Westgate, entirely off-road. Or southwest toward New Lynn via Avondale. Or southeast, via eye-catching bridges and alongside Te Auaunga Oakley Creek toward Mt Roskill and Onehunga.
Here are three safe and scenic ways to get from the Northwestern Path to these brand new Inner West routes.
Option 1: Meola Road to the Northwestern via Pt Chev Road
Marked in pink on the map.
Meola Road, which needed a full rebuild, got the early headlines, but Point Chevalier Road is also a showstopper. It now has dedicated bike paths on each side of the road. These wend their way past shops and cafes, and brand new pōhutukawa trees that are already flowering.
As you ride through the Great North Road intersection and over SH16 towards Carrington Road and access to the NW Shared Path, you’ll spot the old public library being dismantled for a fresh new pop-up. You’ll also pass impressive new apartment buildings by Kāinga Ora and Ockham. This area is on the up and up. Hundreds if not thousands of new neighbours (and customers for local shops) are expected in the next few years. The new builds come with bike parking. More proof, if we needed it, that housing options and greater transport choices go hand in hand.
The above creates a straightforward route with separated lanes all the way from the southwestern end of the Meola Road cycleway down Pt Chev Road, over the motorway at the Carrington Road bridge and directly onto the Northwestern Shared Path.
One caveat – the Pt Chev Road cycleway isn’t fully complete yet. Please take care in its final stages of construction – due to be ready by June if not sooner.
Option 2: Meola Road to the Northwestern via MOTAT and Western Springs Park
Marked in turquoise on the map.
From Meola Road, duck into the Motat 2 driveway to discover a smooth separated bike path. This runs between Western Springs College and Seddon Fields. (And alongside the Motat tram – ding your bell if you see it, they’ll ding back!) This brings you to Motions Road. A section of shared path runs to the crossing that leads you to the main entrance to Auckland Zoo (with new covered bike parking) and onwards into Western Springs Park. You can follow the scenic route around the park. Go slow and watch for walkers, kids on little wheels, and the occasional sassy goose, swan, or pūkeko. You’ll emerge at MOTAT’s main location. Pop out into Stadium Road, or up onto Great North Road. You’ll be opposite the famous Pōhutukawa 6 that Bike Auckland folks helped save from road-widening machinations, a decade ago this summer.
From MOTAT, you have two options for accessing the Northwestern path.
- Cross the motorway at the St Lukes Road overbridge, which has dedicated off-road bike and footpaths.
- Alternatively, you can cross Great North Road at the Stadium Road crossing. There’s a cut-through at the motorway on-ramp that leads you into Ivanhoe Road. Follow your nose along quiet roads that duck under the motorway (via the paradoxically named Mountain View Road). Then loop left onto Levonia, and left again at Finch St onto the Northwestern Shared Path.
If you wanted instead to head up to the Grey Lynn shops and along the Great North Road ridge, Tuarangi Road is a good option. It has a few stretches of off-road driveway access that function as unofficial safe walking and biking paths. It makes a handy alternative to riding up the Great North Road hill.
Option 3: via the Eric Armishaw boardwalk and through the Waterview interchange
Marked in yellow on the map.
If you’re heading west or south from Pt Chev, you may just love discovering this option. It’s the prettiest route so far.
From Point Chevalier Road, turn into Walker Road, a relatively quiet side street. Follow it all the way to the end. If you’re riding with kids, there’s a nice playground on Neville St next to Walker Park.
At the end of Walker Road is Eric Armishaw Park, where kite-surfers gather, and kayaks set off. You’ll see another great playground. Head through it and follow the coastal boardwalk. This swoops around the mangroves and brings you to a cluster of crossings beneath the enormous Waterview Interchange. Follow the bike-crossing lights across and through, aiming for the southwest corner. There you’ll find signage for the Northwestern path.
You can head east into the city via the venerable overbridge across Great North Road and up the rainbow path. Or head south via the overbridge and then down Great North Road to access the Waterview Path via the magnificent walk/bike bridge over Te Auaunga Oakley Creek. Or head west along the SH16 causeway via the bright yellow bridge.
You can also duck into Waterview itself, and explore the ‘heritage area’. This is where houses were removed for the tunnel project – beware a few steps here and there). There’s a great playground here with a pump track and water-play area, plus a coffee joint in a colourful container. .
Whichever way you choose, you’ll arrive at your destination refreshed by idyllic views of the Waitematā, sneak peeks of Te Auaunga, and glimpses of a part of the city that’s rapidly growing, and transforming its streets to match.
But wait, there’s more!
The current improvements get you as far as Westmere Village shops. From there, there’s a gap through Grey Lynn towards the Great North Road ridge. Great North Road is getting a long-awaited makeover in 2025, adding protected bike lanes from Crummer Road to Karangahape Road.
Fortunately, Auckland Transport is finding ways to bridge the gap. They will upgrade bike safety on Old Mill Road and Surrey Crescent in mid 2025. These works are part of a regular road resealing. (We really dig that ‘dig once’ approach!) This will leave just a couple of gaps in a Point Chev to city route. It will be just as direct as the motorway-adjacent Northwestern path, but with a lot more access to local schools, shops and attractions.
If you have further to go, or just love trains, consider mixing your modes. It’s free to take your bike on the train. Handy access points from the Inner West include:
- Baldwin Ave station located in quiet streets (behind a cafe and wine bar!)
- Mt Albert station, with bike paths through the town centre
And of course, for those who are happy to ride on quieter roads, or confident using the wide arterials (as former tram routes, several have bus lanes that accommodate bikes) – the whole of the isthmus is at your feet. Especially once you discover the many alleyways and local links via parks.
Lastly, with our eyes on the horizon, it’d be remiss not to point out that Northcote is just a half-hour ride from Meola Road – if we freed up just one little lane on the Harbour Bridge. Locals and visitors alike could walk, bike, scoot and run across the glittering Waitematā. Access to the whole of the city, plus those gorgeous views – who wouldn’t want that?
