Editorial: Council in jam on cycle project

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby

Cyclists have heaped pressure on the Tauranga City Council to stump up $500,000 for a cycleway project worth up to $4.8 million.

More than 200 signatures were obtained in one week asking for just that.

The petition was launched by local cyclist Phil Simpson. He collected the signatures from cyclists, walkers and runners.

The proposed cycleway would link into the city's existing cycling network and ultimately form a continuous trail stretching from Omokoroa to Otumoetai, eventually extending out towards Paengaroa and the Tauranga Eastern Link.

Earlier this year, the city council opposed funding its share of the $1.5 million needed to build the city leg of the cycleway from the Wairoa River to Otumoetai.

The other funding partners were New Zealand Transport Agency and the Government's National Urban Cycleway Fund.

In support of his argument, Mr Simpson raises the issue of safety, claiming that committing cyclists to use the the state highway between Omokoroa and Otumoetai was like committing them "to suicide".

While that might be an overstatement, it is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby has responded, saying the council supported the new cycleway, but was seeking external funding in the first instance.

The council's position on the cycleway was always going to be met with strong opposition.

However, if, as has been suggested in the past, council is faced with prospect of funding the cycleway at the expense of expanding the city's urban cycle network then the decision made was a logical one.

There is only so much money that can be allocated to cycling.

Pressure to reverse the decision is likely to increase when the council hears submissions to its 2015-25 Long Term Plan and the issue of safety, now that it has been raised, adds another dimension to this debate.