Plan to swap car parks for cycle lanes

Several kilometres of Wellington’s roadside car parks will be turned into temporary cycle lanes to enable physical distancing under Covid-19 alert level 2.

Wellington City Council will apply to the government for funding to build seven temporary cycling and pedestrian lanes across the city as part of a Covid-19 response, to help ease demand on public transport.

Five other projects, focused on ‘‘innovating streets’’ were also put forward, intended to be permanent measures unrelated to social distancing.

The total cost of the 12 projects is about $2 million. If approved, they will be 90 per cent paid for by the government. Most projects will be relatively simple, essentially coning off parking spaces to create paths.

The proposals include a temporary 1600-metre cycle lane on Evans Bay Parade, an uphill cycle lane on Brooklyn

Road, and a 600m cycle lane on

Featherston St.

The government support was announced on April 12, following moves by several other world cities – including New York, Paris, and Berlin – to prioritise walking and cycling.

‘‘When people begin to return to city centres following the lockdown, we want them to have enough space to maintain physical distance,’’ Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter said.

‘‘Some of our footpaths in busy areas are quite narrow. Temporary footpath extensions mean people can give each other a bit more space.’’

Cycling advocate Patrick Morgan said the plan didn’t go far enough. He wanted to see an ‘‘essential workers route’’ connecting bike lanes all the way from Hutt Rd to Wellington Regional Hospital.

Buses and trains in Wellington were expected to be running at around half their normal capacity, Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter said, because of social distancing requirements at level 2.

The limited space is more likely to affect commuters who live closer to the city, because buses may already be full by the time they arrive at their stops. The council hopes the pop-up cycle lanes will encourage some people to bike or walk to work.

Rideshare e-scooters, a common alternative commuting method for people in central suburbs, are not expected to be back at level 2.

A spokesperson for JUMP scooters said they had been advised they could not operate under Level 2 conditions but were still in discussions with the government.

‘‘Temporary footpath extensions mean people can give each other a bit more space.’’

Julie Anne Genter