Cycleway for Manawatū Gorge replacement highway pitched as win-win for cyclists and motorists

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

New Zealand Transport Agency regional relationships director Emma Speight says any cycling pitches for the Manawatū Gorge replacement road will be considered.

Cyclists are accusing the New Zealand Transport Agency of failing to remember the 'penny-pinching' of the Auckland Harbour Bridge while designing the new link between Manawatū and Hawke's Bay.

But a group lobbying the agency for a dedicated off-road cycleway has been blindsided by news plans are already afoot for a recreational cycleway across the Ruahine Range.

Lobby group Build the Path pleaded its case to Horizons Regional Council's regional transport committee, and agency regional relationships director Emma Speight, who was there to update the committee on projects, on Tuesday.

The current design for the new highway, which will replace the closed Manawatū Gorge, is a four-lane road with half a lane on each side.

* New east-west highway ignores cyclists and pedestrians, for now

* Illogical and old-fashioned thinking about Manawatū Gorge replacement route not on**

It does not feature a dedicated cycleway like what the Kāpiti Expressway has.

Brent Barrett, who is also a Palmerston North City councillor, told the committee the cycleway had to be part of the highway build from the start.

Palmerston North City councillor Brent Barrett says the New Zealand Transport Agency is risking repeating mistakes from the 1950s.

The agency may be saying it could come later, but 'later is agency speak for never', he said.

Even if it was built later, it would be far more expensive, with the Auckland Harbour Bridge cycleway a perfect example.

'Here we are in 2018, and the transport agency is risking a repeat of 1959 [when the bridge construction was finished] here on our doorstep … and failing our region.

'We are gobsmacked the NZTA haven't committed to a separated path at the outset.'

The half-lane would not be as well used as a separated cycleway, he said.

The Waikato Expressway had a half-lane, but no-one cycled on it because it was too dangerous, he said.

But the Kāpiti cycleway was getting more users than expected.

A dedicate cycleway would benefit everyone, he said.

'Motorists want cyclists off the road, and cyclists want to be out of harm's way.

'A safe, separated shared path is the only way to make it happen.'

Horizons chairman Bruce Gordon asked Barrett if he had seen a proposed cycleway the Te Āpiti-Manawatū Gorge Governance Group had come up with, linking the eastern and western sides of the gorge.

Barrett had not. The plan was only signed off by the group on Monday, and a copy was not provided when Stuff requested one.

State Highway 3 through the gorge – a popular route linking Manawatū with Hawke's Bay and northern Wairarapa – has been closed since April last year because of slips. The route was abandoned in July when officials said the Tararua Range hillside was unstable.

Barrett addressed concerns from Tararua District mayor Tracey Collis, who was worried any potential delay in building the new route would cost businesses.

The cycleway could be built completely separate from the road, but had to link to roadways at the Ashhurst and Woodville ends, he said.

'If the transport agency do talk about delays, it is a red herring.'

Speight said the agency would create more detailed designs as the process went on.

Any cycleway proposal, as well as feedback on other issues, would be looked at, she said.