Urban cycleways a clear priority for councils
Urban cycleways a clear priority for councils
Transport Minister Simon Bridges
says applications have been flooding in for the $90 million
remaining in the Government’s Urban Cycleways
Programme.
Mr Bridges says since the first tranche of projects were announced on 30 January, 59 new applications have been received from almost all of the main urban centres across the country.
“This strong response shows that cycling is becoming a clear priority for urban councils. The Government’s Urban Cycleways Programme has successfully incentivised local councils to accelerate their own urban cycleways plans,” Mr Bridges says.
The applications are for the second and final tranche of projects to be funded by the Urban Cycleways Programme. The programme is designed to pull together a number of funding sources, including local government and the National Land Transport Fund, to enable high-quality projects to get underway much sooner than may otherwise have been the case.
$9.9 million has already been allocated to progress the first set of projects in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The remaining $90.1 million will be invested between 2015 and 2018.
The NZ Transport Agency is currently prioritising the applications, which will be reviewed by the Urban Cycleways Investment Panel. Urban Cycleways Programme projects are decided by the Minister of Transport, on the recommendation of the Urban Cycleways Investment Panel.
“I expect to announce the successful applicants by the middle of this year. I’m really looking forward to watching the Programme help create a user-friendly cycleway network across the country, encouraging more people to cycle more safely, more often,” Mr Bridges says.
Further information can be found here
ends