One of the delights of our cycleways, both new and old, is how green they can be, especially with the new landscaping. Likewise our greenways through parks. But this being Auckland, everything grows. And you don’t want vegetation branching out into your head’s way, creeping along across your path, or tickling your ankles as you ride.
So whose job it is to keep the planting under control? After all, NZTA builds the cycleways alongside motorways; those then revert to being AT’s assets (along with the on-road cycle lanes and shared paths), while paths through parks are the domain of Auckland Council. All a bit complicated.
Thankfully, AT’s Walking & Cycling crew has cleared it up for us:
All landscaping and vegetation – in parks, along footpaths, cycleways, and shared paths – comes under the purview of Auckland Council’s parks department.
Call 09 301 0101 to log a request for pruning, maintenance, or any work needed to keep pathways clear and safe.
(You can also submit a parks maintenance request online.)
- Council provides a standard 2.5m pruning clearance over footpaths or cycleways. Though on a wet and windy day, foliage may hang a bit lower or branches can sway around and up/down.
- When it comes to brand new infrastructure, Council takes over maintenance one year after the new infrastructure is completed. For example, they’ve recently taken over the maintenance of Grafton Gully, where the gardens are on a 10-weekly maintenance cycle. Because the plants were planted so close to the path, they have elected to remove a row of the grasses and flaxes along the entire length of Grafton Gully cycleway.
Meanwhile, surface issues on cycleways are the purview of Auckland Transport: you can alert them about glass, debris, and other conditions at 09 355 3553 or via this online form.
By the way, if you log any vegetation requests with AT or NZTA, they should still get done, but it may take some time and virtual run-around for everyone – so now that you know, hopefully you can get results faster.
There we go, that makes things much clearer. Any questions?
