Progress made on Plan for Karangahape Road Cycleways

Thursday, 29 January 2015, 2:10 pm
Press Release: Generation Zero

Progress made on Plan for Karangahape Road Cycleways

Youth group, Generation Zero, is pleased to see the progress being made with the recently released Karangahape Road plan, which details the future of Auckland’s most vibrant street, including the much needed separate cycle lanes proposed by Generation Zero.

“Plans for the lane are still in their infancy,” says Emma McInnes cycling spokesperson for Generation Zero ”but it’s great to see the Council’s vision for the lanes is a daring and exciting one.”

“The actual lane will probably be very different from the mock up that has been released,” Ms McInnes says. “We’ll be aiming to talk with the community more about the actual look of the lane going forward.”

Generation Zero’s campaign for protected cycle lanes along Karangahape Road was launched in May 2014. Over 100 Karangahape Road businesses supported the campaign last May, and a petition for the cycleways gained over 2500 signatures from the community. It called for the Waitemata Local Board, Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to action the installation of safe cycling infrastructure along Karangahape Road.

Cycling numbers have been on the rise in Auckland, and Karangahape Road, the linchpin of cycling routes in Auckland City, is one of the most used, but under protected.

Vernon Tava, Local board representative says; "The Karangahape Road plan is a very high priority connection” and that the document “ identifies that any cycleway improvements to the main road will occur in the next 1-3 years."

The Waitemata Local Board endorsed the final plan in November 2014. The publication is complete and officially released a few days ago.

Funding is committed to only some parts of the project, such as investigation. This means Generation Zero will be pushing for funding for the whole project, including the trial lane, in the near future.

Ms McInnes; “We would like to thank the Council’s process for listening to the community. The original draft plan for Karangahape Road barely mentioned cycling, but the new plan has boldly answered the needs of the community and has addressed cycling.”

ENDS.

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