Have Your Say on the Nelson St Cycleway – Phase 2

Auckland Transport wants to hear your views on Phase 2 of the Nelson St Cycleway. It connects Upper Queen St with the waterfront and runs from Victoria St to Quay St and includes a section on Pitt St. Consultation is open for feedback until Monday 5 October 2015.

Construction of Phase 1 is already underway with the first section of the bridge installed last night.

Auckland Transport’s Walking and Cycling Manager Kathryn King says the Nelson St Cycleway will transform the CBD and will form a crucial part of the cycle network in Auckland. “It’ll create a safe and convenient option to get to the city and around it.”

The cycleway is a mixture of shared pedestrian and cycling paths and two-way on-road cycle lanes separated from the general traffic by raised buffer islands.

Kathryn King says it’s a key project for Auckland. “This cycleway is part of a growing network of cycling paths making it more attractive to bike into the city for work, study or leisure. The consultation is a chance to tell us what you think about Phase 2 and help us come up with a final design.”

The cycleway connects the shared pedestrian and cycling path on Upper Queen St with the waterfront at Quay Street. With plans for cycle improvements on Quay St, it will ultimately create a link from west Auckland to Tamaki Drive via the Northwestern Cycleway.

The project has two phases. Phase 1 creates a link from Upper Queen St to Nelson St via Canada St and a new bridge to the old Nelson Street off-ramp. The new bridge and the off-ramp will be exclusively for pedestrians and people on bikes. Phase 1 then continues down on the west side of Nelson St to its intersection with Victoria St.

Phase 2 continues on the east side of Nelson St and Sturdee St and connects to a future cycleway at Quay Street. This phase also includes a cycleway along Pitt St between Beresford Rd and Nelson St. On this section we are asking for feedback on two options at the intersection of Hopetoun St and Pitt St – one options sees the removal of the left turn into Hopetoun St from Pitt St.

Auckland Council will release designs for the surface of the motorway off-ramp later this month; the aim is to celebrate the route's views and unique setting and help it become an attraction in its own right.

The NZ Transport Agency’s Regional Director, Ernst Zöllner says he wants people who get on their bikes to get to their final destination safely and quickly. “The Nelson Street Cycleway will create high quality cycle facilities in the city centre which will help make cycling become a part of everyday life for people living in Auckland.”

The cycleway has government funding through the Urban Cycleways Programme (UCP) and is being jointly delivered by the NZ Transport Agency, Auckland Council and Auckland Transport. The three agencies are working on a three year, $200 million programme to make it safer and more convenient to travel by bicycle.

Nelson St Cycleway

• Links with the Northwestern Cycleway, Grafton Gully Cycleway and the waterfront creating a walking and cycling spine on the western side of the city centre.

• Supports an increase in the number of people choosing to cycle to the city for work, education and leisure. This becomes increasingly important due to the major improvements proposed in the city over the coming years.

• Provides thousands of local residents with improved travel options within the city. Over the last decade, this area has become one of the most densely populated parts of the country.

• Creates a city centre where people are safer and feel more confident walking and cycling to work, study, to do their shopping and for leisure.

For detailed maps and an online feedback form go to our website Nelson St web page

ENDS

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