14 October 2004

New cycleway design gets thumbs up

A new cycleway design on Tennyson Street has proved such a resounding success with cyclists, residents and motorists that the Christchurch City Council is considering applying similar designs to other city streets.

Council transport planner assistant Esther Sassenburg, says the outcome of the evaluation is good news because it gives Council the go-ahead to consider providing more such cycleways elsewhere in the city, to encourage more people onto cycles.

A comparable evaluation of Lyttelton Street where on-road cycle facilities were recently developed has also proved very popular with its users, confirming that both styles of cycleways can be considered for future cycling developments in Christchurch.

Residents along Tennyson and adjacent streets are receiving letters this week with the main results of the Tennyson Street evaluation. The street’s reconstruction involved the: construction of off-road cycle lanes painted red on both sides of the street (back on-road at intersections) introduction of pedestrian traffic islands for crossing the road construction of grass berms with trees between the footpath and cycleway, and reduction of road width and car parks.

A total of 92 residents, 200 cyclists and 100 motorists took part in the street’s evaluation along with various groups of parents and children from Beckenham Primary School, and Cashmere High school teachers and the school’s board of trustees.

Ninety-two per cent of the cyclists said they felt safer cycling on Tennyson Street after the reconstruction. Regarding overall layout, 90 per cent of the same cyclists and 81 per cent of motorists were happy with it, saying it gave all road users their own space – pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

However, the survey also showed that not everyone knew how to use the cycleways – the worst offenders being adults. The two cycleways are considered part of the road, despite being separated from the road, so cyclists must abide by the same laws as if riding on the road. This means: cyclists can only cycle in one direction on a cycleway cycleways cannot be used as footpaths rubbish bags and recycle bins should not be placed on cycleways cars coming out of drives must give way to cyclists on the cycleway just as they would to cyclists on the road. Ms Sassenburg said that the Council was working on producing an information-education pack, as suggested by evaluation participants to go to residents and schools near new cycleways.

The Council will use the evaluation data in future planning to decide what sort of cycle provisions are to be built to ensure cyclists safe passage between popular destinations, Ms Sassenburg said.

ENDS

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