Island Bay cycleway goes ahead!

24/6/2015

Very pleased to report that the Island Bay Cycleway traffic resolutions were passed 8:6 by Wellington City Council today. The cycleway is going ahead!

Thank you very much to everyone who has shown their support for the cycleway over the past 18 months. This simply wouldn't have happened without you.

A genuine thank you also to those who have had concerns or been opposed. Even though we may not have always agreed your input into the process was still important and valuable and has ensured that the final proposal is much more robust than it would have been. Hopefully some of your concerns have already been addressed and the rest of your concerns will gradually melt away after the cycleway is implemented.

Now that we have some certainty let's hope that we can work together as a community to make the cycleway the best cycleway possible, and for the benefit of everybody.

4 Comments

Maria van der Meel

6/9/2015 09:09:20 pm

Whether you are for or against, or neutral in my case, the fact the Island Bay Cycleway went ahead untested for safety by the Cycling Framework Formula is of concern. The Cycling Framework was designed to deliver safer cycle ways and goes as far as to say on page 17 under commentary that;

It will only implement cycle ways if it safer than what we have now.

An Official Information request reply from Paul Barker dated the 27th of August 2015 confirms the test was omitted. This is not only bad news for the people of Island Bay but delivers yet another blow to public safety in the City.

Regan

7/9/2015 12:22:44 pm

Hi Maria, I am not sure what safety test under the Cycling Framework Formula you are talking about. I was a member of the Island Bay Cycleway Working Party and one of the things we did was go through the entire Cycling Framework and test the proposed cycleway against it, including the requirement that "it is safer than what we have now". The Working Party found that "the Island Bay cycleway proposal as at December 2014 fits within the principles and thresholds of the Draft Wellington Cycling Framework. The only decisions that need to be made by council are on the traffic resolutions required under the Wellington Consolidated By-Law 2008". The council has also carried out three safety audits already and a fourth is intended to be done post-construction.

Regardless, I have always found it bizarre that anyone could rationalise that physically separating people on bikes from cars, trucks and buses travelling at 50kph isn't significantly safer than what we have now. No transport infrastructure is completely risk-free but the likelihood and consequences of a collision between a vehicle and a bike are both significantly reduced in a separated cycleway. Pedestrians are also safer because there are no more bikes on the footpath and they have an additional buffer between them and the real threat to their safety - motor traffic. The new cycleway will only create one potential interaction that doesn't currently exist - between a cyclist in the cycleway and a passenger exiting a car - and by doing so it removes potential interactions between cyclists and drivers exiting cars, and cyclists and pedestrians on the pavement. According to the MoT only one in three car journeys has passengers which significantly reduces the likelihood of a collision. The risk is further mitigated by the use of buffer zones and people simply looking out for each other. In my view, there is absolutely a net gain in safety for all road users by having a dedicated cycleway.

Maria van der Meel

7/9/2015 11:15:57 pm

"The Working Party found that the Island Bay cycleway proposal as at December 2014 fits within the principles and thresholds of the Draft Wellington Cycling Framework".

The word draft is key; and only after the Cycling Framework was adopted unanimously by the Councillors did it become a legal council document on the 24th of June 2015. In my considered opinion the Working Party and for all the good intentions were not authorized to make safety decisions using a draft document. It's like putting the cart before the horse.

Using the Official Information and Meetings Act I asked Dr.Lavery for the test by the formula used in the Cycling Framework that decides whether their plans are safer then what we have now here in Island Bay, and on the 28th of August was told the following;

"The cycleway project in Island Bay had effective approval in December 2014. The required changes to the traffic restrictions that would give effect to the approved plan were more recently approved by Council at its meeting of 24 June 2015".

"At that same meeting of Council the framework for future cycleway development was also approved, given that Island Bay was only seeking an endorsement of a previous committee approval there was no demand from Councillors to assess the project under the new framework". End

Additionally the current Island Bay cycle way has no history of serious accidents and a clean safety record to boot. Unless the MOT statistics were taken right outside Playcentre on The Parade they won't fly in this case and possibly others.

In any case your talking about a 'concept plan' and I am talking about the "Approved Plan for Construction" which from my experience (Manners Mall) are 2 different plans altogether. The Approved Plan for Construction effectively lets the Council do what they want and not necessarily what Councillors voted for.

Please tell me who was in the working party?

Regan

8/9/2015 11:44:09 am

Thanks Maria. Looks like we are going to have to agree to disagree on whether the cycleway is safe. The working party report, including the membership, was part of the June 24 council agenda (page 326): http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-council/meetings/Council/2015/06/PUBLIC-Agenda-24-June-2015-Council-meeting_Part2.pdf

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Island Bay cycleway goes ahead!

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