Colin Barnes of Haumoana cycles through the crowds at the city's Art Deco Festival. Mayor Kirsten Wise says the city needs to become more of a safe haven for those on two wheels. Photo / Ian Cooper
Colin Barnes of Haumoana cycles through the crowds at the city's Art Deco Festival. Mayor Kirsten Wise says the city needs to become more of a safe haven for those on two wheels. Photo / Ian Cooper
Recent data shows Napier is New Zealand’s most dangerous city for cyclists. Mayor Kirsten Wise responds.
OPINION:
We need to get better with bikes in Napier. We have a lot of the elements needed to be a cycle-friendly city but there are some gaps and we’re on a mission to get them filled.
Across the country, pace is slow when it comes to creating comprehensive and connected cycle networks in urban centres.
There’s a lot to do, and if we use traditional ways of building cycling infrastructure, it will cost too much and take far too long. We need to get smart about reusing existing roading to get bikes moving.
Recycling is a ‘must-do’ for a sustainable community. We need to use recycling, fittingly, for cycling needs, repurposing existing roads to include space dedicated to bikes.
Retrofitting cycle infrastructure to the sides of roading corridors takes extra land, cost and time.
We are looking instead at reallocating existing road space. Space for cars will get narrower on some of our arterials to make room for bikes.
We arguably have more off-road bike paths per capita than pretty much any other city in New Zealand.
The 200km Hawke's Bay Trails are among the Great Rides of New Zealand. Photo / NZME
Many of them are great routes around the region along waterways. The trouble is, they don’t yet link very well to the city centre.
Cyclists are left to fend for themselves in a busy and confusing environment dominated by cars.
This means we’re not using our existing cycle ways to their full potential. Our challenge is to create the last few links to complete an awesome network that everyone can use, for commuting, exercise or simply for fun.
When it comes to capacity for cars, we have plenty spare in Napier. When our main corridors like Kennedy and Taradale roads were developed, decision-makers of the time planned for massive growth but it hasn’t happened.
Added to that, the Expressway and Prebensen Drive have given us even more capacity since then. In some places, the four-lane main roads we have coming into the city don’t need to be as wide as they are.
We can reuse some of this space to create separated cycleways cheaply and more directly.
By using concrete separators and making straightforward changes to intersections we can encourage people on bikes to use these main roads.
Roads like Carlyle, Tennyson and Kennedy can then become the backbone of a city cycle network. They’re avoided now by most cyclists but they are the simplest and quickest way to get to the city centre.
Making this happen is a partnership with central government, specifically Waka Kotahi NZTA.
They are helping us bring about initiatives that support access-for-all and micromobility options including - but not limited to - bikes.
Together, Waka Kotahi and local councils, ours and others all over NZ, are accelerating the rollout of cycle networks that put safety first.
Riding on Napier's arterial routes can be a daunting experience. Photo / Warren Buckland
Bike lanes need to be safer to be more attractive, but they also need to be comfortable, continuous and connected.
We need to speed up delivery, keep down costs, and build a comprehensive network to high safety standards.
Being smart about roading will help us deliver benefits we expect from cycling infrastructure in a way that’s affordable, faster to install than more traditional builds, and gives us the chance to try things out. Also by using semi-permanent materials we can make sure our street space initiatives are easier to adapt and upgrade over time, increasing the likelihood of results that reflect the wants and needs of our community.
We have a strong vision for where we are heading as a city in terms of transportation. What we do know is: A busy contemporary city needs to support multiple modes with which to get around.
If we use traditional ways to solve our issues though it’s going to take a long time to get from where we are to where we need to be.
We need to rethink the way we use our roads, we need to be brave enough to try things out, we need to garner support from other agencies and look far and wide at models that work in other places.
There’s plenty of opportunity to make getting around easier in Napier and we’re on the right track to improve our network so everyone of us can enjoy cycling through our city.
