Cycleway close to completion
DUNEDIN’S latest cycleway is nearing completion.
Dunedin City Council transport group manager Richard Saunders said the twoway cycleway in Anzac Ave required only some markings and ‘‘tidying up’’.
Contractors were now focusing on new traffic islands and pedestrian crossings, which would result in the project being completed on schedule in mid-November, he said.
The raised pedestrian crossings which were now a feature of the street were designed to slow traffic and improve safety.
They still left enough room for cars to park on both sides of the street, which was important to businesses, and the street itself would revert to twoway traffic once the upgrade was finished.
Earlier this month, Ironic Cafe and Bar owner Steve Wilson said his business was losing $5000 a week because of the cycleway work.
He was not blaming contractors, or against cycleways, but believed the council should compensate him for the losses.
Mr Saunders acknowledged the impact on nearby businesses but said overall he was pleased by the progress.
‘‘We appreciate it’s disruptive for businesses, and we try to limit that disruption, but the project itself has gone really well.
‘‘We’ve been happy with the way the contractors have tried as best as possible to minimise disruption on businesses and the farmers’ market and when we had the Pink concert,’’ he said.
The $7 million cycleway link — twothirds of which will be paid for by the NZ Transport Agency — would eventually connect the city to the State Highway 88 cycleway to Port Chalmers.
It included construction of a new $1.2 million shared cycle/pedestrian bridge across the Leith, near Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Mr Saunders said work on the bridge piles was complete and contractors would soon begin pouring concrete foundations.
Steel would be delivered later this month and be lifted into place beginning by early October, he said.
‘‘There should be quite a bit of progress between now and the middle of October, when the actual bridge structure itself will start to become clearer,’’ he said.