Trial ends but too early for conclusions

THE trial of a temporary cycleway in the Invercargill CBD ended yesterday.

Last month the Invercargill City Council launched a cycleway in Deveron St which offered the community an opportunity to try a new way of travelling into and through the city and also to help inform future designs considered by the council.

Wooden planter boxes, bright road art and bike racks were temporarily installed in the streets.

Council roading manager Russell Pearson said it was too early to make any definitive conclusions.

However, the Deveron St trial had drawn both positive and negative comments on a range of measures, he said.

‘‘Many submissions showed support for the separated cycle lanes and the use of colour and planters has been found to bring strong interest.

‘‘Equally, parking is an area businesses have identified as a difficult issue.’’

The trial had demonstrated that Deveron St provided a good and safe connection to Queens Park, Otepuni Gardens and the city centre, he said.

‘‘Invercargill has a number of onroad cycle lanes, but these are not always connected and cover the wider areas.

‘‘This is an ongoing desire and it is likely that to complete a connected network across our community we will need more cycle lanes.’’

For this to happen, the council would need to make important decisions about where new cycle lanes would be located as many businesses had shown concern over the removal of car spaces, Mr Pearson said.

He would analyse all the feedback received and then prepare a report on the matter to be presented to councillors in the next few months.