Cycle advocates don’t want to be railroaded
CYCLE advocates are ramping up the pressure on the Government to deal with an issue that has resulted in a Dunedin cycleway stopped in its tracks by a new KiwiRail rule.
Spokes Dunedin is circulating a letter people can email to Government ministers calling for urgent action on the rule that all new shared walk/ cycleways on KiwiRail land be a minimum of 5m from the centre of the rail line.
The organisation says the local action will soon become national.
It emerged last week $500,000 of spending on the Chain Hills trail that would have connected Dunedin and Mosgiel may have been in vain, after the new rule meant part of the trail by railway near Abbotsford could no longer proceed.
The Dunedin Tunnels Trail Trust had been developing the track for two years. KiwiRail was aware of the design and had visited the site for meetings four times before the rule was changed.
Trail trust chairman Gerard Hyland last week described the rule change as ‘‘a real slap in the face’’ from KiwiRail, and said he did not know if the trail could go ahead.
There were ‘‘pinch points’’ by the railway the trail could not traverse under the new rule.
Cycle advocacy group Spokes Dunedin’s letter to Transport Minister Phil Twyford, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter, Dunedin North MP David Clark, Dun edin South MP Clare Curran and others said the organisation was ‘‘very disappointed’’ with the rule change.
‘‘This will limit, and in some cases completely stop planned trails on KiwiRail land.’’
It asks the ministers to investigate the matter ‘‘with all urgency’’ to persuade KiwiRail to apply a 3m rule, with fencing.
Spokes chairman Jon Dean said his organisation had been discussing the issue with the trails trust.
The rule change did not just affect the trust and Dunedin.
‘‘For the rest of the country it’s actually a big pain in the butt.’’
Mr Dean said he could understand what KiwiRail had done from a health and safety perspective.
‘‘It’s just the implications are quite horrific for a lot of cycle trails, especially recreationstyle ones around the country.’’
It also went against what the Government wanted in terms of transport.
‘‘Spokes is just trying to advertise that there’s an issue here, and the Government just needs to be made aware of it.’’
He said he hoped a process could be found to work out what could be done to satisfy and mitigate risks.
Mr Dean said Spokes would be ‘‘ramping this campaign up a bit’’, taking it to a national level through the Cycle Action Network.
The bigger issue was the threat to the proposed cycle connection linking Dunedin and Central Otago.
‘‘It’s a bit of a bummer for regional development, especially for places like Milton and Waihola, Waitahuna and all those places.’’
Mr Twyford’s office yesterday referred questions to Ms Genter, who said she was very supportive of the development of new cycle trails.
But she did not indicate she planned to do anything about the issue.
‘‘Ultimately, this is an operational decision for KiwiRail who need to balance their role in supporting cycling and maintaining safety around their tracks.’’
Ms Curran, whose electorate includes the Chain Hill trail, said she would lobby for a change.
She planned to send a ‘‘please explain’’ to KiwiRail, asking how the company came to its decision and what due diligence it did in terms of the impact. She would ask ‘‘them to take another look at it’’.
‘‘It seems unfortunate and unfair if the project is scuttled by an arbitrary decision.’’
❛ . . . the implications are quite horrific for a lot of cycle trails, especially recreationstyle ones
around the country
REALLY? Does KiwiRail really need five metres between the centre line of its tracks and cycleways, plus a big solid fence? The 5m rule is a devastating and demoralising blow to cycleway plans and the enthusiasts behind them, especially for the link between Dunedin and Central Otago.
KiwiRail last week issued empty pronouncements about how it supported the development of cycleways on railway land, as long as their design ensured safety and did not restrict business operations. It even said it recognised the community’s desire for a cycleway between Abbotsford and Wingatui and it would continue to work with parties on how the cycleway can proceed.
But all that is meaningless if, as it seems, the 5m is an impossible impediment. This is not a question of escalating costs, although they might come into it. But, as Dun edin Tunnels Trail Trust chairman Gerard Hyland said, the ruling meant parts of the track could not be built. On the Dunedin side of the tunnels there were pinch points ‘‘we can’t get around’’.
The trust raised $500,000 on property and worked to build part of the track at a tunnel entrance. It had been working with KiwiRail, a design was submitted and then the 5m, instead of 3m, emerged.
Central Gold Trail trustee Murray Paterson, meanwhile, said the change ‘‘could well make a difference’’ to plans for the proposed Lawrence to Waihola trail.
The safety reason for trail users is perverse. First something has to come free from a train. Then that something has to jump the 3m and the fence. Then it has to occur at the very moment a cyclist, or perhaps a walker, is going past.
Of course, such an incident can never be ruled out but the odds of all those happenings coinciding are close to negligible.
How much more dangerous it is just to drive a car? And how much more dangerous to cycle on highways with cars and trucks passing close to a metre away? Even the concrete dividers on the new parts of the cycleway on the oneway system in Dunedin are only about 1.5m. Most vehicles are also much less than 3m across.
Cycling for recreation is booming. Off a low base, it is also expanding for commuting across the South. Mosgiel is Dunedin’s growth area, and the trail from Wingatui to town through tunnels would have provided a route both direct and interesting.
Cycling in safe places is also healthy, but KiwiRail is doing its bit to undermine both health and safety through this overthetop ruling.
Perhaps the real reason lies in making life safer, but particularly easier, for its staff and for its business operation. And these considerations are acknowledged in its statement. While KiwiRail has managed with a 3m gap, no doubt the wider area makes operations more straightforward. The safety excuse becomes a nice addon, especially with the changes in recent years to safety legislation and potential culpability.
Port Otago, likewise, is proposing to extend restrictions on its Dunedin wharves under the health and safety rationale. Although there are underlying and legitimate concerns, it appears to be unwilling to put up with a little inconvenience for the sake of public recreation.
KiwiRail is publicly owned and the taxpayer has regularly had to come to its aid. The company, and the Government as owners on the public’s behalf, owe it to the community to find a way that cycleways can be built. If in places the 5m is not possible, so be it.