Top marks for new cycle route

Parents, schools and the wider community will soon be asked for their views on a new cycle lane which will allow school children to bypass Blenheim’s busy town centre.

Some young cyclists from three schools already use the route to avoid traffic, and the council is planning to create an official cycle lane to make the ride to and from school safer.

The lane, which runs down Eltham Rd and Beaver Rd will encourage students of all ages to use their bikes. Construction on the track is due to start in 2018, and consultation with the public will begin soon.

The route will run along Eltham Rd, up either Carr St or Dillon Street and along Beaver Rd to the Taylor River Reserve, which cyclists can then cross, bypassing busy traffic in Blenheim’s town centre.

It is designed to link primary school Whitney Street School to Bohally Intermediate and Marlborough Girls’ College.

Eltham Rd resident Andrea Craig says she supports the cycleway, and her son Alex is keen to ride his bike to Bohally Intermediate when he starts school there in two years’ time.

Many people use Eltham Rd as a thoroughfare in the mornings, Andrea says. ‘‘It will be fantastic knowing that it’s safer for [children],’’ she said.

Seven per cent of Whitney Street pupils and 14 per cent of Marlborough Girls’ students ride their bikes to school, compared with 30 per cent of Bohally Intermediate students.

The idea was presented at an assets and services committee meeting last week.

Blenheim ward councillor Mark Peters said while he supported the track there was an ‘‘elephant in the room’’, with Marlborough Girls’ College due to co-locate with Marlborough Boys’ College on one site in 2021.

However all the councillors voted in favour of the proposal, which is expected go out for public consultation after the next full council meeting in May.

There are a wide range of options for the cycle route, such as including ‘‘landscape calming’’ features such as street trees and shrubs, having two lanes side-byside, and separating the cycleway from traffic.

The estimated cost of the cycleway rangs from $200,000 to $500,000.

PHOTO: ELENA MCPHEE/FAIRFAX NZ Eltham Rd resident Alex Craig, 9, is looking forward to being able to cycle to Bohally Intermediate School.