Loving the new footpath at Acacia Bay, Carolyn Jones (left), Camex Civil resource manager Shannan Bell, Mark Wardlaw, and Ted Jones. Photo / Rachel Canning
It's a dream come true.
Acacia Bay residents can now commute to Nukuhau, and beyond, on a new 2.1km footpath that's wider and smoother than before.
It's all thanks to the water main upgrade from Control Gates Bridge and some forward thinking from the council.
Taupō District Council senior communications officer Andy Taylor says the water main was under the footpath, and the council realised the project was an opportunity to build a new footpath that was fit for purpose.
"For years, people have been saying 'if the footpath was in a better state and wider, then we could commute to work by bike'.
"People in Nukuhau would say 'we want to ride our bike to the Acacia Bay shops and home again, we don't really want to take the car'."
Acacia Bay residents Carolyn, 79, and Ted Jones, 82, are delighted with the new footpath.
When it was finished in early December, their first bike ride was to Spa Park in Taupō town.
Carolyn says they ride for 30km twice a week and like to go to Kefi at the Hub Cafe. They ride through the forest areas at Wairakei Tourist Park and Craters Mountain Bike Park, out to Owen Delany Park and along the river, and they often ride into town and along the Great Lake Walkway as far as Waitahanui.
Carolyn rides an e-bike and Ted, who was paralysed in a mountain biking accident in Taupō in 2009, rides a hand-propelled three-wheeler bike, which he says keeps him really strong.
"We are limited to riding where the smooth surfaces are and to the extent of our bike batteries," Ted says.
He has long been a keen road and mountain biker. He moved to Taupō in 1969, and first took part in the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge in its fifth or sixth year and has completed the event 10 to 12 times.
"Before the upgrade, the camber on the old Acacia Bay footpath was all wrong, and Ted used to nearly tip out quite frequently," Carolyn says.
Construction of the new footpath began in March and was delayed with the August Covid-19 lockdown. Ted gave up biking through the construction area because the surface was too hard to negotiate and the pent-up traffic beyond the construction area resulted in a few close calls.
"The girls on the stop sign were wonderful. They would say, 'we'll stop the traffic for you', but we had to give up, the traffic was too horrible."
Ted says anyone with three wheels is always conscious of the cross-fall (the camber). He says the footpath is two or three degrees in places.
"In a wheelchair, even one degree and you fight it, both hands are required on the wheels to stay in a straight line."
He says the new footpath is "incredible" and has made a big difference to him as a disabled person.
By December, Camex Civil resource manager Shannan Bell, 29, was swapping home baking with Acacia Bay resident and e-trike rider Mark Wardlaw.
Mark, 65, and Jane Wardlaw moved to Taupō five years ago and Mark, a meningitis survivor with stroke-like symptoms, bought an e-trike not long after and competed in the 2018 and 2019 Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge.
He has recently upgraded his bike from 250 watts to 500 watts.
"I can now do wheelies," he says.
Mark loves the new footpath and has tested out all the various angles on his trike. He rides every day and says it is his only form of exercise because he "can't walk too well".
Often found picking up rubbish with Tidy Taupō, Mark says he will ride his trike into town if he has a job to do.
"The other day I rode home with a bag of compost. Riding keeps my legs going and it's good upper body strength for me."
The one grumble from Ted, Jane and Mark is that the project didn't include the undergrounding of the power poles. They are worried about a vehicle crashing into one of the poles.
Shannan has 12 years of experience in the earthworks construction industry and has lived in Taupō for the past two years.
Overseeing the construction of the Acacia Bay footpath while driving a digger, Shannan was also looking after her now-five-month-old baby girl, Harper, who was born in June.
"I went back to work when Harper was two months old and she and Mela [the miniature fox terrier] were with me on site these last few months," Shannan says.
"We would have weekly chats about the footpath, and Mark loved the baby and dog."
She says it was great meeting Mark and Ted and hearing first hand about how important a smooth and well-constructed footpath is for their bike riding and wellbeing.
"The design is for an all-access, shared footpath. Being made of concrete it is much smoother than what was there originally."
The Rotorua law student who authored it says the support was 'overwhelming but inspiring'.