Cycle lane ‘obsession’ taking a toll
A Wellington business owner, who had plans to expand, is instead selling up – blaming the council’s ‘‘obsession’’ with cycleways.
Lisa Moffat-Hamilton took over boutique consignment store Secondo in Tinakori Rd in April last year. As turnover ramped up she looked into moving into a vacant space next door.
Then work began on the construction of a cycle way from Whitmore St, up Bowen St to the botanic garden and a shared cycle/bus lane in the opposite direction. More than 150 on-street parks were removed.
At that time concerns were raised about risks to the livelihood of businesses in the area and to Tinakori Rd’s celebrated ‘‘village’’ atmosphere.
Studies in New Zealand and North America show cycle lanes can be a boon to business and that there is an ‘‘insignificant or positive impact on retail businesses’’ when parking spaces decrease.
However, Moffat-Hamilton said since December there had been a ‘‘massive downturn’’ in customers, especially at weekends. Foot traffic has dropped by at least half. Where once she was selling 80 items over a weekend, there were now times she had sold less than a handful.
Visitors to the gardens ‘‘parked up’’ for the day in what spaces remained ‘‘leaving none for shoppers to come and go’’. A new bus platform just south of the store, which forced buses to stop in the roadway rather than pull into the kerb, had created massive traffic snarl-ups during peak hours, she said.
‘‘This obsession for cycleways . . . I’ve never known a council so far removed from the people they were elected to represent, or so blindly stubborn as to not consider pushing pause and really assess the massive impact they have made.’’
Liam Hodgetts, the council’s chief planning officer, said international evidence showed better cycling infrastructure improved overall spend in local centres, but acknowledged individual businesses could be impacted by changes close to those businesses. The Tinakori Rd changes were part of a transitional programme aimed at improving bus journey times and providing a safe, citywide bike network, he said.
Another four parks along the short retail strip are earmarked for removal – one will become a ‘‘no stopping zone’’, another will become a mobility park and two will be replaced with a ‘‘parklet’’ with seating and bike parks.
Moffat-Hamilton leaves the store, which was established in 1997, in two weeks. It will be taken over by a staffer, who admits to being somewhat ‘‘apprehensive’’. Estelle Ballandis, who has owned the neighbouring florist Flowers Rediscovered for 81⁄ 2years, has also noticed a significant drop in foot traffic since parking was removed.
‘‘Every second customer complains there’s nowhere to park now.’’
Cycle lanes were all well and good, she said ‘‘but you can’t strap your wedding bouquet on your back’’. Wholesalers and couriers had nowhere to park when doing deliveries or pick-ups.
Patrick Morgan, Cycling Action Network project manager, said the changes were not just about cycle lanes, but for overall safer and more attractive streets.
There was no evidence upgrading streets decreased foot traffic, he said, but making streets safer ‘‘should be good for retail’’. ‘‘You can have a city that’s designed around cars, or a city that’s designed around people ... I get change is hard but the evidence is, the changes are good for everyone.’’
Meanwhile, proposals for the precinct that is home to Parliament, Wellington Cathedral of St Paul’s, Old St Paul’s, a large supermarket, Police HQ, the Ministry of Health and St Mary’s and Wellington Girls’ colleges have also come under fire. Plans include removing two bus stops and around 130 metered parking spaces to make way for one-way cycle lanes on Molesworth, Murphy and Mulgrave streets.
New short-stay pick-up and drop-off zones outside schools are being introduced while three existing metered parks in Pipitea St – outside the Indian High Commission and near the Fijian High Commission – will be replaced with diplomatic corps parking.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT) spokesperson said while diplomatic parking spaces were provided to enable members of the diplomatic corps to carry out their official functions, no parking places are allocated specifically to individual missions. More than 1000 submissions have been received on the Thorndon proposals. Any changes will be considered by the council’s Pūroro Āmua planning and environment committee in May.