Dated cycleway 'dangerous'
An Auckland cycleway installed more than 10 years ago has been labelled dated and dangerous by one cyclist who says it’s no wider than the handlebars on her bike.
Aucklander Natalie EllenEliza, who cycles the Greenlane West cycleway every morning to work, said the narrow cycleway left her feeling ‘‘unsafe and frustrated’’.
The cycleway runs along Greenlane West in front of the ASB Showgrounds.
At its narrowest point, the cycleway was just 46 centimetres wide, Ellen-Eliza said.
‘‘I cycle this stretch of road often and feel unsafe.’’
The cycleway was 20cm narrower than her handlebars, she said.
‘‘The footpath is pretty much never in use, yet it’s about six times as wide as the dedicated cycleway. On that strip of road the safest option is for me to cycle on the footpath, but that’s also the illegal option.’’
The footpath is at one point 288cm wide.
The New Zealand Transport Agency website says there should be 1.5 metres between a cyclist and motorist.
However, Bike Auckland spokesperson Max Robitzsch said on this particular road, 1.5 metres was not enough.
‘‘We have serious issues with this bike lane. It’s in what we call the ‘bike Bermuda triangle’, the middle of the isthmus, which is woefully short on safe options for people on bikes,’’ Robitzsch said.
On a busy road like Greenlane West, a physical separation and a width of 2m would be a safer option, he said.
Auckland Transport (AT) senior media adviser for walking, cycling and road safety Joanna Glasswell said the cycleway was constructed prior to 2005 by the legacy Auckland City Council.
AT was investigating cycle routes on the isthmus for its 2018 to 2021 programme, she said.
‘‘The investigations will determine which cycle routes are developed. If a cycleway was built on Greenlane West today, it would be designed to be separated from vehicle traffic to meet with the current standard.’’
In the past five years, there were three minor injury crashes reported on the cycleway between Wheturangi and Manukau Rd, Greenlane.
All the crashes occurred during the day, on a weekday, in fine weather and where drivers had failed to see riders in the cycleway, Glasswell said.