Safety may see u-turn
The city council appears to be backpedalling on its decision to narrow a popular biking route after residents voiced safety concerns.
The Nelson City Council made $15,000 worth of changes to Brook St, adding concrete build-outs on the sides of the road that funnel cyclists into the same lane as cars. The move was accompanied by ‘‘share with care’’ signage.
Council spokesperson Paul Shattock confirmed there was an option to rip up the newly-installed concrete if it turned out to be unsafe for cyclists and motorists.
Cyclists have the right-of-way in the new layout, and cars are encouraged to slow down to allow cyclists to pass in front of them.
However, following residents’ concerns about the change, the council has announced it is now conducting a ‘‘safety audit’’.
A post by council staff on the Nelson City Council Facebook page said, ‘‘sometimes we get things right, and other times we don’t’’.
It explained that the concrete build outs seemed to be creating issues for both cyclists and motorists and the council would assess the safety of the changes, and discuss with groups, including Bicycle Nelson Bays, what a solution might be.
‘‘We simply want to make sure this area is user-friendly and safe for everyone’’, the post said.
Shattock said the infrastructure had been both designed and consulted on back in 2013.
He said it was put on hold so the council could first upgrade Brook St’s water and sewage pipes, as ‘‘there was no point installing something then ripping it up again’’.
However, the council is not ruling out doing just that, if the audit finds it is not safe.
Shattock said due to the lapsed timeframe between consultation and the project starting, ‘‘people new to the area would not have had the opportunity to engage ... Council will modify their procedures to ensure that this does not occur again.’’
Both Bicycle Nelson Bays and the Nelson Mountain Bike Club said their biggest concern was with how the process had played out.
Bicycle Nelson Bays’ John-Paul Pochin said it was good the council was now listening to both cyclist and motorist feedback.
‘‘Hopefully this can be a starting point for a wider discussion [about cycling infrastructure] rather than a piecemeal approach.’’
Pochin said cycling infrastructure wasn’t there just to benefit cyclists, as it was a way to improve the overall city environment, including reducing traffic, accidents, and pollution.
But he said it was important there were good consultation processes with both cyclists and residents, so everyone was on the same page as to why roading changes were being made.
As for Brook St, Pochin said Bicycle Nelson Bays had offered to collate feedback from cyclists and residents about the changes and share their findings with the council.
Nelson Mountain Bike Club secretary Paul Jennings said he’d be pleased to see more robust consultation, which included all road users, for future infrastructure.
As for the concrete build-outs on Brook St, he said he ‘‘wasn’t an expert’’ but didn’t feel like it was helping.
‘‘My experience as a cyclist is it’s not a fun road to ride on anyway [as] it’s narrow and there are a lot of parked cars there,’’ Jennings said.
‘‘Bikes and cars on that very narrow bit of road are competing for space, there’s nowhere for either of them to go at the moment.’’
The council is calling the road markings featuring a cycle and two chevron arrows ‘‘sharrows’’. Peter Sutton has experienced social isolation first hand.
The 87-year-old retired psychologist, of Nelson, said he withdrew from all community contacts when he cared for his progressively ill wife, who died in 2011.
‘‘The only times I left the house was to go to the supermarket or to the library,’’ he told a crowd of more than 30 people yesterday at the launch of an Age Concern-led project called AgeConnect Nelson Tasman. ‘‘I experienced considerable social isolation.’’
Sutton said that social isolation was relieved to some extent because his wife’s mental abilities were never affected by her illness.
‘‘We were still able to talk together and discuss topics of interest,’’ he said. ‘‘She was still very able to tell me firmly what I should be doing.’’
Sutton himself had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2004 and the stress of caring for his wife exacerbated those symptoms.
‘‘I was at that stage taking 31 tablets a day,’’ he said.
The couple had been married for 60 years when his wife died.
‘‘As you can imagine, I miss her,’’ Sutton said.
‘‘Following her funeral, I felt quite broken and after doing the household chores, I really found I had nothing left to do except read or listen to music.’’
He realised ‘‘that many widows or widowers didn’t survive that sparseness for long’’.
Sutton saw two alternatives: to become involved regularly in interaction or to stay at home and ‘‘wait to die’’.
He chose the former and attended an AGM of U3A, University of the Third Age, a couple of months after the death of his wife.
That led to involvement with several learning groups and roles on the U3A committee. He had also since become involved in a radio show, picked up social bridge, joined Age Concern and was learning to play the clarinet.
‘‘My decision to join [U3A] was at the beginning of a very busy period of interaction, learning and researching, which kept me mentally stimulated and active,’’ Sutton said. ‘‘My decision to join U3A was a real life saver for me.’’
That busy period was accompanied by a ‘‘dramatic improvement’’ in his health.
‘‘From 2012, my Parkinson’s symptoms became progressively less severe,’’ he said.
Sutton gradually reduced his medication and in late 2016, he met a visiting neurologist who had read about his case.
‘‘He shook my hand and he