Fawlty Award win

Dave Armstrong awarded Mayor Lester a ‘‘Basil Award’’ for a cycleway compromise in Island Bay ‘‘which gained almost unanimous support’’ (Dec 26).

A ‘‘Fawlty Award’’ would be more appropriate, for a scheme for which the opinion of Island Bay residents has never been sought.

In a public survey, more than 80 per cent of Island Bay residents voted for a return to a model with a cycleway outside of parked cars.

Lester’s compromise widens the footpath requiring a rebuild of 3km of kerb and channel, shifting all drainage sumps and street poles and re-cambering the roadway, at an estimated cost of $7 million.

Children and their carers could cycle on the extended footpath and a painted cycleway would be outside kerbside-parked cars.

The existing footpaths on The Parade are fairly wide and children cycling on them could be managed. Detailed measurements of the ‘‘compromise’’ have not been released, but widening the footpath would apparently leave the roadway outside the parked cars significantly narrower than the original.

Such a model would be more dangerous than the original cycleway as the safety of a ‘‘shared space’’ traffic and cycleway is very dependent on the road-width.

NEIL CURTIS

Island Bay