24 November 2005

Christchurch City Council lifts temporary freeze on cycleways

Christchurch City Council has ended a temporary freeze it placed in June on new cycleway work.

According to staff advice at today's Council meeting, the decision does not restrict councillors' ability to later direct that a review of the July 2004 Cycling Strategy be done.

Issues and concerns raised by councillors at a workshop with staff on 15 November will be examined in a report due before the Council on 15 December, as will an issue raised at today's meeting - a proposal that all future works incorporating cycling elements should come before the Council.

Among the topics raised by the city councillors were safety, the drop in numbers of children riding, their ability to scrutinise and make decisions about projects and the relationship of cycleways to on-street parking provision and to available road space for other modes of transport.

Today's meeting heard that a marketing-style review was being planned to learn more about the reasons why children and their caregivers decide not to use bicycles and whether the Council's existing cycle promotion and education budgets can be better targeted to encourage behaviour change.

Also underway is work relating to Riccarton Road which, in part, will assess the value of cycle lanes in any options to be developed and considered for that thoroughfare.

The Christchurch Cycling Strategy is on the web, though a link on the main cycling page, at www.ccc.govt.nz/recreation/cycling/ - Today's report on this matter can be viewed at www.ccc.govt.nz/Council/proceedings/2005/November/CnclCover24th/CnclTempFr eeze.pdf

ENDS

© Scoop Media