Hawke's Bay Trails wants $418,500 from regional council to revamp public cycleways

Hawke's Bay Trails is seeking $418,500 funding from HBRC for three projects - Bayview Whirinaki trail, Ahuriri underpass and Waimarama Rd safety improvements. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay Trails is seeking more than $400,000 from Hawke's Bay Regional Council for three revamping projects.

Spanning 200km, the off-road trails form part of a public cycleway network that links Hastings and Napier.

The trail network operates over land owned by various entities, including the Napier City Council, Hastings District Council, Department of Conservation, KiwiRail, LandCorp and NZTA. The regional council owns almost 84km of the network.

The $418,500, which would be used for three "priority projects", would invest $200,000 into the Bayview-Whirinaki trail.

An additional $125,000 would be spent improving the Ahuriri underpass and $93,500 on Waimarama Rd safety improvements.

The group, a regional collaboration led by HBRC, says those trails are not up to the level of the others on the network, and it wants to ensure a consistent experience.

Hawke's Bay Trails, which opened in 2012, recorded more than 600,000 trips across the network last year, and research indicated 60 per cent of trail use is by locals.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Cycle Plan 2015 said the region wanted to be nationally and internationally recognised as "providing the most bike-friendly experience in New Zealand".

The proposal is up for discussion at the regional council's corporate and strategic committee meeting tomorrow. .