Vote to protest shared use of footpaths
A DUNEDIN group advocating for the visually impaired is going to protest a plan to allow cyclists to use footpaths.
The meeting of Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa NZ (Victa) voted to protest a petition being considered by the transport select committee.
The petition of Lower Hutt woman Jo Clendon calls for a change to road rules so children under 14 and accompanying adults, seniors over the age of 65, and vulnerable users can ride on the footpath.
Victa trustee Lynley Hood earlier this week criticised the idea, and the support she said it received from the NZ Transport Agency national cycling team at a meeting she attended in Wellington last week.
She said the NZTA team had incomplete information, and had no interest in hearing about other data that, she said, proved them wrong. The NZTA responded to that claim yesterday, defending its data.
The Victa meeting at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery yesterday was originally to have discussed a manifesto put together by Dr Hood that noted almost four times as many pedestrians as cyclists were killed on New Zealand roads. It also said the NZTA invested more than $350 million in urban cycling infrastructure but had no dedicated investment in pedestrian infrastructure.
The meeting, attended by about 50 people, also heard from NZTA projects team leader Simon Underwood, Road Controlling Authorities Forum shared footpaths group convener Michael Harrison, Dunedin city councillor Mike Lord and Dunedin South Labour MP Clare Curran.
Mr Underwood said the NZTA ‘‘meets the expectation of the government of the day’’. There had been a focus recently on cycling but the agency’s design standards always included the needs of pedestrians.
Mr Underwood pointed to walkways included in an upgrade of the Southern Motorway from Caversham to Lookout Point as an example.
Mr Harrison, who said he was a member of Victa, said data on cycling and pedestrian injuries did not get reported in the same way as motor vehicle crashes.
Ms Curran said the meeting should use the opportunity to write to the select committee, while Cr Lord said council strategies did include the needs of vulnerable road users.
The meeting voted to ‘‘protest the matter of the shared use of footpaths to the appropriate authorities’’.
NZTA national cycling manager Dougal List said yesterday the NZTA was working on cyclingrelated rules reviews associated with the 2014 Cycling Safety Panel report, which recommended looking at the rules around footpath cycling.
NZTA research concluded allowing children up to the age of 12 to cycle on footpaths had merit.
Mr List said young children lacked the skills to ride safely on busy roads and several other countries allowed them to cycle on the footpath.