2 min read
Some quick updates from the cycling side of the Waterview project…
The main Waterview shared path – connecting SH20’s shared path in Owairaka in the south to the Northwestern Cycleway in Waterview and Unitec in the North is on the final stretch to consenting (though it will take a few more months, at least, for the process to run its way). The AT team did a lot of legwork and design ahead of this, much of it around property acquisition / easements for the new path through private land and KiwiRail / Oakley Creek areas (image of the Soljak Bridge crossing the rail line at right). They showed the public the pretty much final designs some weeks ago, and from what we heard and saw, the consenting should go reasonably smoothly.
The Valonia Street & Richardson Road Bridge shared paths – as you can see in the plan at right hand, the walkway / cycleway side access at Valonia Street will now be connected with a shared path to the shared paths on Richardson Road Bridge. CAA pushed for both these features, in preference to on-road cycling (i.e. cycle lanes on the bridge, and no facilities on Valonia). And with 3.5m each side on the bridge, these shared paths have better width than most around Auckland… While CAA is increasingly moving away from advocating for new shared paths, it certainly feels sensible to ensure that users of this major shared path have a continuous-style safe way to/from the SH20 path to the nearby town centre at Richardson Road / Stoddard Road. So it’s great to see that this is now linked up.
The Ernie Pinches Overbridge on the SH20 cycleway will be closed for a while from end of September for about 3 months due to works on the motorway below. So you can’t use it to get to/from Sandringham Road anymore, and will have to detour to Maioro Street or May Road…
Also, the Waterview contractors note that if you have any questions, you can contact Claire Cooney on 021 607 774 or her email.
