This post is short and sweet, because good news speaks for itself – and because we know you love maps!
We have a couple of smart women in Waka Kotahi/ NZ Transport Agency to thank for leading the way, by providing maps that show how to bike to the two big cycleway projects the Agency is opening this summer.
Firstly: the extension of the Northwestern Cycleway from Lincoln Rd to Westgate – which opens officially at 11am on Thursday 19th December with an official ribbon-cutting by Minister Phil Twyford at Royal Road School. (Bike Henderson, our local Bike Burb, is organising a group ride to the opening – keep an eye on their page for details).
It’ll be a red letter day for the School’s students who will entertain us, and for all of us who have been watching and salivating over this new 3.5km route extending the Northwestern Cycleway to Westgate.
Note: You can click on each of the maps below to see them at full size and pore over the details!
The second big exciting route is the new cycleway you can see taking shape alongside the Southern Motorway, covering 4.5km from Takanini to Hinau Rd in Hingaia/Papakura. (Have you noticed the new Pescara Bridge, already partly completed across the motorway?)
The motorway works will be officially opened on the afternoon of Thursday 19th December, after our NW Cycleway project ribbon-cutting. The cycleway component of the southern project needs a wee bit more time to complete, so will have its day of ribbons and pomp sometime early in 2020 – and you can bet we’re all looking forward to that.
Getting back to those good people in NZTA I mentioned earlier: here’s a bouquet for them.
At the beginning of this year, we asked the Communications teams on the two projects to provide us with maps to help show where each new route begins and ends. We also wanted to show people how to reach the cycleways using trains, as every day we see more people taking their bikes on trains to access more of Auckland. And we asked for the maps to show bike-friendly local links on the Auckland Transport cycling network, as well as green routes through Council’s network of parks and paths, so people could see how the paths connected to local neighbourhoods.
This might all sound relatively easy in the days of GIS mapping, but the Comms people really had to start from scratch. They also kindly made time to bring draft maps along to our AGM this year, so our members could give feedback and share local knowledge.
The result: these maps are the first of their kind in Auckland, where the Transport Agency has made it easy in advance for us to all to get ready to ride on the new routes, from the day they open.
Not only are these maps hugely valuable to us – so are the people who took the time and care to create them. So we take our collective helmets off to the wonderful Barbara Ware and Jenni Wild, from Waka Kotahi/ NZTA. You’re such fabulous allies for people on bikes in Auckland! Thanks heaps to you, and to the organisation that funded your time.
Header image: Looking along Royal Road onto the overbridge past the primary school – with the shared path and one of the first two protected bike lanes on a bridge in Auckland (image: Bike Henderson).
