'We need to act now': Death of cyclist prompts increased calls for Totara St cycleway improvements

Death of cyclist prompts increased calls for Totara St cycleway improvements, believes Heidi Hughes. Photo / George Novak

Tauranga cyclists and the city's mayor Tenby Powell are calling for immediate action after the death of a biker on a controversial Mount Maunganui cycleway.

Now the Tauranga City Council is finalising plans to put in a 3m wide shared cycle path and reviewing the speed limit on the busy Tauranga road.

A cyclist was killed on Thursday afternoon after colliding with a truck at the intersection of Totara and Maui Sts.

The Totara St cycleway has been a point of contention for years. Transport advocates have rallied to have the cycle path widened for safety reasons.

New Zealand Transport Agency guidelines show a cycle lane on a road with a speed limit of more than 50km/h should be 1.6m.

However, it is understood the Totara St cycle lane is less than 1.5m wide. The speed limit is 60km/h.

Heidi Hughes said if something was not done immediately, this week's fatal collision on the road "would not be the last". Photo / George Novak

Tauranga transport advocate and councillor Heidi Hughes told the Bay of Plenty Times through tears after Thursday's crash that if something was not done immediately, the fatality "would not be the last".

She said Totara St was a key thoroughfare for Port of Tauranga trucks, but also the main route for cyclists between the Tauranga CBD and Mount Maunganui.

"We have been advocating for this loud and clear for five years. Trucks and cyclists do not mix."

The council admitted last year that the cycleway was unsafe because of its width. Its advice to cyclists at the time was to "be seen".

Hughes said she did not blame anyone, but wanted the tragedy to show how vital it was for something to be done.

"There is a huge amount of sadness in the cycling community right now.

"I just wish we could have got this over the line sooner, one death is one too many."

She said it was time for the Government, the Port of Tauranga and Tauranga City Council to collaborate and "step up". A joint statement from Cycle Advocacy Groups, Bike Tauranga, Sustainable Business Network and Greater Tauranga said it was "likely to be an accident that could have been avoided" if a safer cycleway was in place.

Spokesman Kevin Kerr said they were calling for a properly protected cycleway on Totara St.

A cycleway was planned in 2015, ranked as the number 2 priority transport project across the wider Bay of Plenty and allocated $1.5 million.

However, it never got built and had been delayed despite numerous working groups and community engagement, he said.

Delays had been mainly because of questions around design, cost blowouts and the lack of agreement between various agencies and affected businesses, he said.

Kerr said they would be calling for an urgent meeting with all key stakeholders next week to get an update on funding applications and what would be done to fast- track the "essential separated cycleway".

Council's general manager of infrastructure Nic Johansson said they were finalising an interim safety option for Totara St that had input from Bike Tauranga.

"This short-term option is for a 3m wide shared path for people who walk and bike, which will separate them from the road. It would run along the east side of Totara St from Hewletts Rd to Rata St."

Cyclists would be separated from trucks and cars, he said.

Longer-term options were being considered but the design of the interim option was being safety audited and would be presented to the council in a few weeks, he said.

"We will continue to work with businesses and the port on safety solutions. A speed limit review will also be undertaken."

A Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Association spokeswoman said the association was committed to a safer more accessible and attractive cycling network.

"Waka Kotahi is working with Tauranga City Council to investigate options to enable safer cycling down Totara St as part of a safe, comprehensive and well-connected cycle network for the city."

Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell said he would be "pushing hard" for changes to the Totara St cycleway and he was "desperately upset" after such a "horrific" death on a Tauranga road.

He said he had already spoken to the council's chief executive about what they could do.

"We need to act now. There is so much room on the east side of Totara St for this."

Mayor Tenby Powell. Photo / File

Powell had been frightened cycling on Totara St this year and believed the city needed to work on cycle safety.

A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said it was not their place to comment on the circumstances around the "terrible accident".

She said they had been lobbying for state highway designation for Totara St for years to expedite funding for safety improvements, increased capacity and intersection upgrades.

Last year chief executive Mark Cairns told the Bay of Plenty Times that Totara St desperately needed safety improvements and met the thresholds for a state highway designation when it came to truck movements, population and port freight.

Cyclist Shane Plummer, a regular user of the Totara St cycle lane, said he had almost been run off the road a number of times.

Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns was pushing for Totara St to be designated a State Highway. Photo / File

"I genuinely believe it is New Zealand's most dangerous cycleway with the traffic volume."

He said it scared him to death that so many children used the cycleway on their way to school.

A police spokeswoman said there were no updates on any charges and inquiries were ongoing into the circumstances of Thursday's crash.

In 2018, local man Kevin Akroyd was killed after his scooter collided with a truck on Totara St.