St Lukes’ ‘ugly’ cycle lanes set to stay
New cycle lanes described as ugly and impractical are a costeffective way to make Auckland’s roads safer, cycling advocates say.
Some St Lukes Rd users have raised concerns about the look and effectiveness of new ‘‘flexipost’’ barriers installed in March to prevent cars drifting into cycle lanes.
Sandringham resident Ange Grayson said the flexi-posts were ‘‘beyond being a complete eye- sore’’ and should be removed.
Belinda Fellowes from Mt Albert said the flexi-posts blocked cyclists from turning right off St Lukes Rd. Another concern was difficulty cleaning the bike lane gutters.
Auckland Transport (AT) cycling, walking and safety manager Kathryn King said it had met with cycling advocacy group Bike Auckland to get feedback regarding right hand turn access and road cleaning issues.
Some flexi-posts had since been moved to make the right turns possible.
AT contracted cleaning services for all infrastructure such as roads, footpaths, bus stops and cycleways, King said.
Standard street sweepers did not fit into the cycleways but there were machines that can do this work, she said.
‘‘We understand that there have been issues with leaves along the route and we have had the cycleway cleaned out and are in the process of working on what sort of regular cleaning programme best suits this area and is most economical,’’ King said.
Travers Reynolds from Pt Chevalier said the flexi-posts were great and made riding feel safer.
‘‘Yeah - they’re ugly, but name one part of a road that is attractive,’’ Reynolds said.
Bike Auckland chair Barbara Cuthbert said retro-fitting the city with cycle lanes needed a flexible approach that remained within budget.
‘‘We do not have the funding to provide the gold standard in every situation.’’