Cycleway’s $9m price tag

CHLOE RANFORD

Plans to link two of Marlborough’s biggest towns with a cycle trail were shelved after a study found it would cost $9 million to build.

A report requested by a Local Democracy Reporter this week showed the Marlborough District Council ran a feasibility study on several cycleways in 2017, including an 8-kilometre route between Blenheim and Renwick along State Highway 6, also called Middle Renwick Rd.

But plans for the inter-town link were put on ice after it was estimated it would cost millions to put down 1.5-metre-wide sealed trails on either side of the road, bordered by a 50-centimetre ‘‘separator strip’’.

The price breakdown included $7.4m in construction costs, $370,000 in client costs, and $1.1m in consultant fees, such as specialist designers and consents requirements. A 50 per cent contingency was also budgeted for ‘‘significant unknowns’’, such as changes to the cycleway’s structure.

The proposed trail would have tapped into existing cycle lanes at Westwood and detour paths around the Fairhall Diversion bridge, but required clip-on crossings on both sides of the Omaka River bridge.

Retaining walls would also have been needed leading up to the two bridges, which might also have needed guardrails, adding ‘‘significant costs’’.

The study said further investigations would be needed before more accurate costs and safety requirements could be pinned down.

A two-way shared pathway, similar to the one in Spring Creek or Riverlands, was written off in the study due to the width of the highway and the 100kmh and 80kmh vehicle speeds people would be driving on the highway at.

Council walking and cycling co-ordinator Braden Prideaux said it concluded a shared pathway would have been ‘‘difficult and costly’’.

He said because of this, no cycling-specific designs had been drawn up for State Highway 6, although the council was exploring less direct routes between Blenheim and Renwick, such as along the Omaka River.

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) had several safety improvements planned for State Highway 6, but Prideaux understood none were to do with a shared pathway between the two towns.

‘‘[The] council is continuing to explore other options with Marlborough Roads for improving safety for cyclists between Blenheim and Renwick.’’

The Marlborough Walking and

Cycling Strategy, released last year, said further investigations were required to connect the two towns.

Renwick Smart and Connected bike walk group chairman Steve Hill said the group had long supported a commuter link between the two towns, and would support an off-road pathway alongside State Highway 6.

The route was used by commuters travelling between Blenheim, Woodbourne and

Renwick before and after work, he said.

The hardest part was crossing the Omaka River bridge.

‘‘We support any work the council wants to do to increase bike paths.’’

Council walking and cycling co-ordinator Braden Prideaux on the Taylor River reserve’s shared pathway. The off-road diversion at State Highway 6’s Fairhall Diversion bridge was proposed to be part of a $9 million link between Blenheim and Renwick, which was later shelved.