New Plymouth council to undertake safety audit of new cycleway
Devon Intermediate School principal Jenny Gellen says the cycleway is an accident waiting to happen.
Photo:
RNZ/ Robin Martin
A safety audit has been ordered for a controversial cycleway that has divided opinions in New Plymouth, with a view to identify improvements that can be made to the design.
Contractors began installing 4 kilometres of concrete separators for the dedicated cycleway earlier this year and most have been in place since April.
The $3.8 million NZTA Transport Choices project along Devon Street West and South Road was developed in conjunction with the New Plymouth District council and fully funded through the Transport Agency.
New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom said the cycleway was always going to be controversial, with submissions on the project being split 50/50 for and against.
"Once construction has been completed our team will undertake a safety review to assess the new layout, feedback from road users and the views of residents living along the route.
"I have asked our team to report back following that process to provide council with any options available to improve the design."
Since the beginning of the installation of the concrete separators, which have been nicknamed Tim Tams due to their resemblance to the popular biscuits, there has been a flood of complaints.
Residents and businesses have griped about lost car parks, motorists have hit the raised separators damaging tyres and wheel rims, and others have said they couldn't pull over to allow emergency services through because of them.
NZTA director of regional relationships Linda Stewart said it was important to note the new cycleway was not yet complete.
"We are not aware of any significant safety concerns with the cycleway construction at this stage.
"Once it is complete any new roadway layout then has a 'transition' period where it is monitored, and adjustments or fine-tuning is carried out. Equally, road users also take a period of adjustment to new road layouts including cycleways, signalised intersections etc."
Stewart said NZTA had worked closely with NPDC on the design and construction phase of the project and would continue to do so in the post-construction phase."
North Taranaki Cycling Advocates member Elric Aublant says the concrete separators remind vehicles to stay in their lane.
Photo:
RNZ/ Robin Martin
Devon Intermediate School principal Jenny Gellen, whose school was meant to benefit from the cycleway, said the concrete separators were too many in number and too large.
"You'd actually have to be driving a quite high-set car, anything that's lower to the ground you're going to take out the bottom of your motor and I don't know what's going to happen to your tyres."
The principal had even more serious concerns about the layout of a new pedestrian crossing at Belt Road, a short distance from Devon Intermediate, which was mainly used by West End primary school pupils.
It now featured two car parks on the road side of the cycleway separator.
"So, students can be standing on the pedestrian crossing with cars parked out in front of it and the students can't been seen by the cars coming down the road ... and the students have to be well out on the pedestrian crossing before they can see the cars.
"I have a serious concern that that's actually an accident waiting to happen and it won't be a pretty one."
Principal Jenny Gellen says she has serious concerns about road safety.
Photo:
RNZ/ Robin Martin
North Taranaki Cycling Advocates Group member Elric Aublant rode his bike every day along South Road on his commute to town until recently moving house.
He said the previous, painted-on cycling lane wasn't adequate.
"Even when there was quite a decent shoulder space, there were a lot of cars running inside the bike lane, so really not giving cyclists enough space."
Aublant had been back to try the new dedicated lane and liked what he saw.
"And, so yes, the concrete blocks some people think it is quite an issue because people are hitting them, but I personally think it's a good separation and it's actually forcing drivers to stick to their lane and share the road with other users.
"And, yeah, it's a much more safe, more pleasant commute on that road now."
He hoped that as people became more familiar with the cycle lanes more would get back on their bikes and try them out.
Emergency services providers had a mixed views on the cycleway separators.
FENZ Taranaki district manager David Utumapu said it made its concerns known during the submissions process.
"We advised the council that we were concerned that traffic might not be able to clear the lane when an emergency vehicle is behind them.
"It seems to us that people are not always sure what to do when we're behind them, and few seem willing to drive over the lane separators, leaving a narrow gap on the centreline for our trucks to use."
Police did not raise concerns about the cycle lane separators and Hato Hone St John area operations manager Blair Walton said it took part in the 2023 public consultation on their installation and "had no concerns at the time".
"As it's early days we're monitoring the situation and how the new layout is working in practice."
NZTA's Linda Stewart said concrete cycleway separators had been used safely internationally and in New Zealand.
Guidance on the safe use and design
of separators was on its website.
"To achieve the space for the cycleway, essentially one side of parking was removed. The separators effectively act as a parked car in most respects. Drivers can continue until there is a gap in the separators where it's safe to pull over and stop."
Council's major projects and planning manager Andrew Barron said the cycle lane separators were designed to best-practice standards.
"Similar cycleways have been installed in other cities across the country.
"We understood that there would be a settling-in period as drivers get used to the changed road layout. The separators themselves are not causing the accidents.
"We appreciate that previously, drivers could use the cycle lane to manoeuvre into and this ability has been removed to increase the safety of cyclists."
Barron said the approved designs allowed most cars, as well as emergency vehicles, the ability to negotiate them as the road width had in most instances stayed the same.
"The separators are low enough for most cars to straddle without them hitting the bottom of the car."
Construction of the cycleway was due to be complete later this month.
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