Boucher Ave is one of two roads where cycleways could be constructed.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council potentially has $2.4 million to spend on cycleways in Te Puke.
But will they go ahead?
At last week’s Te Puke Community Board meeting, a presentation by the council cycleways manager Scott Parker sparked a discussion.
Consultation on the possibility of cycleways being created on parts of Boucher Ave and Cameron Rd began this week.
At last week’s meeting, Scott explained the money had been assigned from the Government’s $348 million Transport Choices Fund.
He said the fund was aimed at initiatives that offered greater transport choices, embraced cycling and walking, and reduced emissions
Of the initiatives submitted by the council, only one was successful. That one was based on a Te Puke Walking and Cycling Strategy prepared by the Te Ara Kahikatea Pathway Society. The strategy is now part of the council’s Walking and Cycling Action Plan.
Scott said the indicative amount of $2.4 million was conditional on the project being completed by June 2024.
The strategy put forward 12 main proposals, but it was only realistic to focus on two: separate cycleways on parts of Boucher Ave and Cameron Rd.
“They were chosen partly because there are four schools on those two roads,” he said.
Possible design options were presented at the meeting, including one-way and two-way cycleways, but Scott said so far the work had been done in the background.
“Now we are at a sensitive point and we need to engage with the community, business owners and key stakeholders,” he said.
“We want to make sure we do the engagement process right and take [the community] through things and look at what is the best solution for the roads.”
He said the strategy envisaged a cycleway that was separate from the existing footpaths, within the carriageway. He said a shared cycleway/pathway was not the preferred option for safety reasons.
“We know there are going to be some challenges around bus stops and parking.”
The first stage of the engagement process was to begin this week, with the second stage to include drop-in sessions and online engagement.
“The idea is we want to engage with people. We don’t want to arrive at a conclusion until we have engaged on it — we want it to be genuine consultation and we want to communicate what we are doing.”
Engagement would end in August.
Board member Karen Summerhays said it seemed difficult to justify spending $2.4 million on the scheme when there were roads that were in need of repair.
Scott said the indicative allocation was a massive opportunity for Te Puke.
“But if we decide we are not going to do it, then the $2.4 million gets allocated to somewhere else in New Zealand.”
Karen also asked whether using some of the gullies around the area might be a better option.
Councillor Grant Dally said many of the gullies were not in council ownership.
The council’s reserves and facilities manager, Peter Watson, said there were also security reasons for not having cycleways aimed at school children being in such gullies.
Grant, who is also a member of the Te Ara Kahikatea Pathway Society, said there had been consultation with a number of groups when the strategy was being put together.
Councillor Richard Crawford is not on the community board, but was at the meeting.
“This will be the first time it has gone to this level of consultation,” he said.
Western Bay of Plenty District could have fewer councillors to vote for next election.