There’s something really hopeful growing in Glen Innes, and once it’s there most people will get so used to it they won’t even notice it.
It’s called a bike network.
Before we wax lyrical about this project if you are pushed for time we will cut to the chase…submissions for the links to Glen Innes Cycleway Project close on 31 January and you should absolutely support this project. Scroll down for Bike Auckland’s quick submission guide. Ideally, put these in your own words – but if you are pressed for time, copy paste is fine too – or just quickly submit to say that you generally support the proposal and want to see more bike paths!
Read on to find out how transformational this project is going to be….
For decades, people wanting better riding in Auckland had to be content with the odd little piece of bikeway added here or there – and then weather the inevitable comments by sceptics when adding 300m of painted lane at one road out of a thousand didn’t suddenly turn us into the Netherlands with people riding everywhere.
To be useful for everyday use, bikeways don’t only need to be safe – already a tall order in a car-dominated city – they also need to be wide-spread. It’s no use building half a bridge and then hoping most people will swim the rest of the way. Some will, but never enough to satisfy the opponents – or even the fence-sitters.
But the good thing about more bikeways is that they can be a virtuous cycle. Two connected bikeway sections are better than two isolated ones. Three together are even better. And the best is a network, where you can go (nearly) everywhere in your area in safety and comfort. Suddenly that bike you rode once a week comes out of the garage a lot more times. To the shops, to work, picking up the kids from school.
Most of you know all this – but it hasn’t really happened in many areas of Auckland so far. Glen Innes may be one of the first outside the City Centre.
The well-known “big ticket item” of course is the Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive bikeway. Started in the middle of the last decade, soon it will go all the way to Orakei, and a year or two later, it will finally properly connect up to Tamaki Drive and the City Centre too. But that, really, as amazing as it is, is an old-style project. Longer-distance commuting and recreational riding.
Around the heart of Glen Innes a whole network of bikeways will finally be spreading out in the coming years, which will be less spectacular – but at least as useful. Heading north, east, west, and south, making it easy for people to ride to the shops, ride to and from the trains, to their homes – and yes, longer-distance to the City, or to Panmure and Pakuranga too.
These cycleways radiating out like spokes of a wheel from the heart of Glen Innes have also been planned a bloody long time. They were mooted alongside the Urban Cycleways in the mid 10s. However, touch wood, we are now in the final detail consultation for the last two routes. Several others have already gone through that process and are “done” except for the building.
The project website for the consultation is here. And the plans consulted on are pretty sweet. For the most part, the proposals include wide two-way bikeways, which will feel particularly safe and generous for new riders. There’s a few design niggles (which we will talk about briefly below so you know what to say in your feedback). But overall, these are pretty great designs!
You may not live in Glen Innes, and you hear the designs are okay? So why should you provide feedback?
For two reasons – first off, these bikeways still remove a good bit of car parking at least in some sections of road. So opposition remains. But more importantly, any bike project that succeeds helps other bikeways not yet built in other parts of Auckland – while every lackluster consultation feeds the sceptics and opponents. So even if you won’t ride it often, please spend a minute or two to give this a happy “Heck yes!” in the consultation found here.
Below are our suggested answers for the questions on the consultation website. Ideally, put these in your own words – but if you are pressed for time, copy paste is fine too – or just quickly submit to say that you generally support the proposal and want to see more bike paths! Consultation closes soon, Monday 31 January!
1 – Line Road
- “I like the design, but it needs some changes”
- There are no big flaws on this route, but it would be good to add improved road crossings at the north end (West Tamaki Road)
- Detailed design should look particularly at making driveways and bus stop bypasses work well
2 – Taniwha Street (Town Centre section!)
- “I like the design, but it needs some changes”
- The footpaths on the north side of Taniwha Street are a bit too narrow for a town centre – widen them (via a narrower median) so pedestrians and bike riders don’t clash
- It would be good to express explicit support for the need to remove some car parking to make this section work
3 – Merton Road (past the Countdown and under the rail bridge)
- “I like the design, but it needs some changes”
- The proposed driveways on this section are far too wide, and not safe as shown – needs improvement at the truck entries and the supermarket car park
4 – Morrin Road
- “I like the design as it is”
5 – Stonefields Road
- “I like the design, but it needs some changes”
- Some parts of the bike paths at the roundabout connecting Morrin Road and Stonefields Road are too narrow / are shared paths
- Connect all the way to traffic signals at the south end, rather than stopping just short
6 – Would the Links to Glen Innes encourage you to cycle more in the area?
- Yes
7 – What aspects of the cycleway design don’t you like and why?
- Some of the bikeway turns at intersections are too tight to ride safely
- Some of the one-way sections seem a bit narrow
- Some of the driveways appear unsafe without added traffic calming
- Shared path sections are limited, but should be minimised even more
- A cycleway link to Panmure (along Pilkington Road) needs to be added soon
8 – What do you like about the cycleway design changes?
- Good protection from cars
- Two-way sections will be nice and generous
- Few shared path sections proposed – people walking and riding both their their own safe space
- Being able to ride to lots of places in the area, safely and in comfort
