Time to deliver

It's time for Wellington City Council to deliver on its Island Bay Cycleway promises

The Island Bay Cycleway has been caught up in the excruciating delays to the Newtown Connections project

The Newtown Connections project is being delayed - again. The latest update from Wellington City Council includes an "an in-depth look at parking in Newtown and Berhampore" and notes that "the information will be used as part of detailed planning to help shape future transport changes in these neighbourhoods". It will also "be considered in the development of a new city-wide Parking Policy". 

Good stuff, I guess, but then the council admits "consultation for Newtown Connections will now also happen in mid-2020. We were expecting to consult on a proposed package of bike routes and street changes in Berhampore, Newtown and Mt Cook in November/December however it is important to have the new Parking Policy in place first."

Hang on a minute. Mid 2020? That will be a full three years since the current round of Newtown Connections consultation started in August 2017. I understand that it's complicated and I get that there are dependencies but this is still painfully slow progress, especially when the council recently declared a climate emergency. 

Climate emergency anyone?

It gets worse. Don't forget that in October 2018 the council absorbed The Parade Upgrade in Island Bay into the Newtown Connections project. At the time this seemed like a pragmatic decision in order to maximise the amount of funding available from NZTA. The expectation was that consultation on a preferred package of changes for Berhampore, Newtown and Mt Cook would happen in March 2019 and the council would make a decision in May/June 2019. Construction of the already approved re-design of The Parade would then commence in late 2019. That's now not going to happen until late-2020 at the earliest, over three years since since The Parade Upgrade was approved 13-1 by council back in September 2017.

Three years to start a piece of work that is already approved and essentially "shovel ready" is ridiculous. Aside from the funding the only plausible reason the council had to delay The Parade Upgrade was the Island Bay Residents Association's judicial review of the decision, which failed spectacularly.

If we're talking about the judicial review then yes, it was embarrassing. Still not as embarrassing as the spelling on this sign though

Maybe it's time to talk about unhitching The Parade Upgrade from Newtown Connections and just getting on with it. Yes, funding is a factor but there's also the cost related to destroying the public's trust and confidence in the council to ever deliver on its promises. This is a pre-existing commitment that was made at the end of a very long and public consultation process. It's not a new initiative jostling for budget among others and shouldn't be treated as one.

What the council actually agreed to in October 2018 was: "Through our LTP the Council has approved $8 million in ratepayer funding to improve connections in the south of the city before 2021, including the agreed redesign of the Island Bay cycleway. With the new direction and changes set out in the GPS, we can potentially leverage the committed $8.0 million of ratepayer funding to gain $32 million worth of changes in these areas by 2021, with the Government picking up 75 percent of the cost." It's now clear that nothing is going to happen in the south of the city before 2021 so doesn't this entire capital budget need to be re-visited anyway?

​In an effort to be constructive about this here's what I think the council (both councillors and council officers) should be investigating:

• Can The Parade Upgrade be funded out of WCC's own capital, thereby freeing it from the dependency on NZTA? 
• Can NZTA be convinced to part-fund or pre-fund The Parade Upgrade on the basis that this is largely a timing issue? It still forms part of a key commuter route into the CBD and is still a key component of the Newtown Connections network (honestly, if NZTA doesn't accept this point or doesn't understand that sometimes circumstances mean having to be a little bit flexible then they are just as much at fault here)
• The Parade Upgrade could take 1-2 years to complete anyway so would phasing the construction help alleviate the funding issues and allow at least some work to get started? For example, could WCC fund and build the cycleway through the shopping village while the rest of the upgrade goes into the Newtown Connections business case? Personally, I would prioritise the shopping village first, then the intersections, then the mid-block sections
• At the absolute minimum WCC must ensure that any and all pre-work required is completed as soon as possible so that construction can begin the moment funding is available. This includes any consultation that needs to be done regarding the mooted 're-fresh' of the shopping village (again, the only excuse for not doing this yet was the judicial review, which is no longer an issue)
• I dunno. I'm just a dude with a blog. You tell me what's possible. Because we all know its possible.

Three years (or more) is too long to wait. It's time to get The Parade Upgrade underway

​​In addition, my challenge to every Wellington City Council candidate in the upcoming local body elections is to make a clear public statement that:

• Three years to start The Parade Upgrade is too long and undermines trust and confidence in the council
• You will do everything in your power to deliver what was promised as soon as possible
• You will investigate all funding options and vote to re-prioritise WCC capital funding (e.g. from other roading projects) if necessary
• Within 3 months of the election there will be a plan in place to start construction of the The Parade Upgrade within the following 3 months 

​While we're on the subject it would be good to hear what the WCC mayoral and ward candidates think about the current state of walking and cycling in Wellington. Here's a few questions:

1. How would you characterise progress on walking and cycling initiatives in Wellington in general? Too little? Too much? Too fast? Too slow?
2. What specific projects do you think need to be sped up or slowed down?
3. Do you think WCC currently has the balance right in terms of public consultation on walking and cycling projects and the length of time it takes? Why or why not?
4. Do you think WCC has sufficient funding dedicated to walking and cycling? Why or why not?
5. Exactly how much would you increase or decrease walking and cycling funding by and over what length of time?
6. What would you be prepared to sacrifice in order to increase the walking and cycling budget?
7. What would you be prepared to sacrifice in order to increase the amount of space available for walking and cycling?

Feel free to drop your answers in the comments below.

Regan.