New bike lanes to plug cycling gap on busy Blenheim thoroughfare

Tuesday, 13 April 2021

An artist's impression of the proposed new Middle Renwick Rd cycle lanes, set to go down between Westwood and Battys Rd.

New bike lanes are about to go down on a state highway heading in and out of Blenheim.

The 580-metre-long lanes will run along State Highway 6, plugging a “gap” between existing cycleways in the Springlands area.

The lanes run from the Battys Rd-Murphys Rd roundabout to Westwood Ave, beside the large retail development on the western edge of Blenheim.

The public was consulted on the lanes late last year, with the Marlborough District Council receiving 55 submissions on the project.

* Takaka Hill road-fix challenges drive longer repair job

The new cycle lanes will be separated from traffic by a buffer.

* Multimillion-dollar boost proposed for public transport in Nelson-Tasman

It resulted in some small changes to the design. Initially, it was thought SH6, or Middle Renwick Rd, would lose 80 car parks to the cycleway, with 12 new parks created.

There would now be two additional 2-metre wide “indented” parking bays on Middle Renwick Rd, which meant removing a tree from the street. Two car parks already in the design had been widened to 2.5m to accommodate trucks and larger vehicles.

This meant a total of 66 fewer parks, rather than 68.

An artist’s impression of cyclists using the new cycle lanes on Middle Renwick Rd.

Parking surveys completed over two days in June and July last year showed during the week, drivers used 16 of the 93 available car parks at most.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional relationships director Emma Speight said the new cycle lanes would help encourage more people to use their bikes.

Speight said this would help reduce congestion, provide better urban liveability and reduce land transport greenhouse gas emissions.

“As part of creating a successful multi-modal transport system we are working with our partners to offer a safer, more accessible and attractive network for cycling so that more New Zealanders can choose to get about by bike,” Speight said.

Councillor Michael Fitzpatrick, who held the council’s bike-walk portfolio, said the project was an important part of completing Blenheim’s urban cycle network.

This would fill a gap in the network and improve connectivity for cyclists, Fitzpatrick said.

“Between 2015 and 2019, there were 16 crashes on this section of road, with six involving cyclists,” he said.

Council sustainable transport manager Braden Prideaux said the cycle lanes were part of the “big picture” to develop a safe, convenient and connected cycle network around Marlborough.

“We want to help make cycling a viable and enjoyable way to commute to and from work and school, to get around town, and for leisure,” Prideaux said.

Construction would begin in May, and should be finished by June. Waka Kotahi NZTA would fund 85 per cent of the project, with the remaining 15 per cent funded by the council.