Cycleways to connect city

Dunedin (Friday, 9 June 2017) – The Dunedin City Council is planning work in the central city that will improve connections between the NZ Transport Agency’s one-way system separated cycle lanes on SH1, and from the city to the harbour cycleways.

DCC Group Manager Transport Richard Saunders says, “The aim of this project is to create more ways for cyclists to get around the city by using fairly simple treatments to make selected roads safer and more cycle-friendly.”

NZ Transport Agency Projects Team Manager Simon Underwood says, “A common theme expressed when planning for the new cycle lanes on the one-way system is the need to complement this with better linkages and improved safety of other key routes in the central city. Work on the new one-way system cycle lanes is expected to start soon, commencing with Cumberland St through the University campus area. Combined with the DCC’s work as planned, the safety and accessibility for people travelling within the inner city, as a whole, will be greatly improved.”

The DCC is seeking community feedback on the proposed work. In late October, the final design will be released incorporating community feedback. Construction is expected to start at the end of the year and be finished by late 2018.

One strand of the Dunedin Urban Cycleways project is to improve the safety of the roads connecting the SH1 one-way system (Duke, Howe, Dundas, Albany and Hanover Streets). The changes will be made on the blocks between the one-way streets.

Mr Saunders says, “On some streets, the work will be as simple as narrowing intersections and marking out areas to guide cyclists at the traffic lights. Albany Street will have the most extensive work – we’re proposing new cycle lanes marked with reflective lane dividers.”

Another strand of the project is to improve connections to and around the harbour.

The proposal is to build a new cycleway on Anzac Avenue from the Dunedin Railway Station to St Andrew Street. From St Andrew Street, a new path will create a link alongside the railway line to a new bridge over Water of Leith near the mouth of the river.

Heading back toward the base of the harbour from the bridge, new road markings will improve the cycle lanes along Fryatt, Birch and Kitchener Streets and a shared path will be formed along the harbour front between Fryatt and Birch Streets. The Portsmouth Drive shared path will be built up and resurfaced.

“Features like the Water of Leith bridge and the path along the railway line will join the dots with existing and planned infrastructure, making it easier for people to travel through the city and around the harbour,” says Mr Saunders.

Under the proposal, six car parks will be removed along the block of Albany Street between the one-way pair. Four car parks will be added on Hanover Street, and a crossing point will be installed halfway down the block. Around Anzac Avenue, between the railway station and St Andrew Street, four car parks will be lost overall.

“We’ve worked hard to retain car parks through the design. In most areas, the total number of car parks will stay much the same, but there will be some changes to the exact location and we’ll change the layout in some places,” says Mr Saunders.

The NZ Transport Agency is working closely with the DCC to develop the city’s cycling infrastructure, and the bulk of the project funding is being provided through the Government’s Urban Cycleways Programme. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $7 million.

More information is available at www.dunedin.govt.nz/dunedin-urban-cycleways.

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