The unrelenting rollout of cycleway after cycleway in the city fringe continues, based on a belief that if you build them, people will use them.
Last month Ponsonby News outlined the potential difficulties around cycle lanes on Pt Chevalier Road and Meola Road.
This month we discuss the cycleways plans for West Lynn shops and Richmond Road, where residents and business people are seriously concerned. Talking to homeowners and business owners on the street, they are still unclear what is proposed even though the machinery has been working on the street for several weeks.
One of the major issues raised has been the lack of coordination regarding public transport, resident parking permits and concerns by local businesses that they will lose parking outside their shops. As local Lisa Prager says, "no parking, no stopping, no shopping."
I talked to Karen Soich, local West Lynn resident, who questions some of the AT cycleway plans for her street and community.
Karen Soich is concerned that coordinated transport options are lacking, saying that surely public transport is the first priority. She also told us residential parking permits for the Grey Lynn/Westmere area are at least one to two years away from actually being implemented. She believes property prices will diminish if AT does not listen to residents. Many houses, former workers’ cottages, have little, or no, off-street parking, and intrusive cycleways will be a problem for young mothers with shopping and a baby, and make life difficult for the elderly and tradespeople.
Auckland is not a flat city - cycling is difficult here compared to cities like Amsterdam. E-bikes may well help, but Soich maintains that E-bikes are an elitist idea for the privileged few. Soich is also concerned at the danger posed by E-bikes racing along at 30kph while mothers try to unload kids and groceries and people try to reach the road for cabs and buses.
Pippa Coom has stated that council’s total investment in walking and cycling projects over the 2015-2018 period will be approximately $200 million. While that investment might only represent about 1% of total transport spending it is a huge figure to spend on primarily recreational cycleways.
On the positive side, the overall precinct design for the Richmond Road project includes a much-needed roundabout at Peel Street, pedestrian crossing on Surrey Crescent making safer access for children, and cycle links connecting Great North Road and Grey Lynn Park, through Sackville Street to Coxs Bay, connecting the local community to its parks and reserves.
However, the two-metre cycle paths to be constructed on both sides of Richmond Road, some between parking and pavement, and others roadside, will take a huge chunk of the Richmond Road carriageway.
Auckland Transport (AT) told us they did communicate its plans with the stakeholders. In March, 7800 brochures were hand delivered and a further 2900 were posted to non resident owners. Ten school newsletters, Auckland Harbour News, internet postings and two open days were conducted. But still people say they have never been consulted. Busy lives mean citizens who are bombarded with junk mail and information overload requires repeated engagement to encourage response.
Very few people submitted. Several I spoke to swore they never got a brochure. This lack of engagement is in sharp contrast to what happened with the well-publicised Unitary Plan which saw local boards and individuals determined to have their voice heard.
I checked out the consultation material sent out by AT.
The questionnaire on the Route 2 proposal asked open questions which relied on active engagement with the online material before a sensible response could be made.
1. What aspects of the proposal do you like and why?
2. What aspects of the proposal would you change and why?
There are eight maps on the AT website, showing the proposed cycleways and road alterations from Surrey Crescent, through the West Lynn Shops, to Parawai Crescent, and they are virtually impossible to read or interpret.
Only 95 people commented on the cycle proposals through West Lynn shops. 35 were critical of proposed changes, while 41 supported the changes, 19 made suggestions for further changes, and 22 were opposed to parking loss. Adding the 35 to the 22, 60% were against the proposed changes.
On the question of bus stops there were 21 submitters - six in favour of proposals, 14 against, one suggesting more changes.
Soich told us that these numbers don’t provide a mandate for AT to proceed. It could do well to look at the Island Bay, Wellington, plans, where locals are threatening legal challenges.
AT must recognise that people only get the message change is about to happen when the red cones arrive, followed closely by bulldozers. Few locals really understand what is planned. Surely some large scale billboard illustrative material would have been more accessible to locals who were to be affected. Posters in shop windows would be helpful too.
No one questions traffic calming measures, but loss of on-street parking is a real issue for some homeowners and businesses on Richmond Road and adjoining side streets.
While cars are still an important mode of transport for thousands of Aucklanders, with public transport still inadequate and resident parking permits not sorted in Grey Lynn, AT seems determined to put the cart before the horse. (JOHN ELLIOTT)