Cycleways ‘good for business’
"People that cycle tend to spend more in the shops that they pass by." Christchurch City Council planning and delivery transport manager Lynette Ellis
Cycleways are good for business, the Christchurch City Council says, despite threats of legal action and widespread discontent among owners trading alongside the city’s new routes.
The $156 million programme has attracted criticism from business owners in areas including Linwood and along Ferry Rd.
The council forecast an $18m overspend on the programme in the last financial year as it tried to accelerate work to minimise the construction impact on the community.
But its planning and delivery transport manager, Lynette Ellis, says cycleways ‘‘generally’’ have a positive impact.
‘‘Consultation with the community on the cycleway designs aim to minimise negative impacts and to make the most of opportunities created by the cycleway.
‘‘There is a body of research internationally that shows cycleways generally have a positive impact on businesses along the route, as people that cycle tend to spend more in the shops that they pass by,’’ she said.
Last month, a spokeswoman for affected Linwood businesses, Irinka Britnell, said the proposed changes at the Fitzgerald Ave and Worcester St intersection as part of the Rapanui Shagrock cycleway would put companies out of business and be the death knell for Linwood Village, which was hit hard by the region’s earthquakes.
Earlier this year, Ray Edwards, a former council roading engineer, said Ferry Rd business owners were ‘‘deeply affected by the proposal for cycle lanes and the removal of on-street parking’’.
An option preferred by council staff for the Heathcote Expressway left 10 of the 71 current parking spaces along the stretch of road.
Edwards submitted a new design, which involved a two-way cycleway on the southern side of the street, angle parking on the opposite side and a reduced speed limit of 30kmh.
His design, which would be considered by council staff despite Ellis raising safety issues, retained 65 car parks.
Of the 13 major cycle routes (MCRs) planned, three were nearly finished: Little River Link, Papanui Parallel and Uni-Cycle.
Ellis said the cycleways’ effectiveness were mainly assessed using the forecast from the Christchurch Strategic Cycle Model.
The forecast assessed the level of investment and benefits and was based on completed cycleways operating alongside projects such as An Accessible City.
‘‘Collectively the effect of all these developed routes results in provision of a network that will provide more people with more cycle options that are safe and attractive for more of their trips,’’ Ellis said.
Most of the cycleways’ benefits were health-related.
Ellis said larger benefits would happen once the cycleways formed a network for people to ‘‘cycle everywhere safely and conveniently’’.
A monitoring programme, which involved installing 24/7 counters, was being put in place as routes were developed.
‘‘Before and after counts on the few recently-completed MCR routes have provided snapshots of usage that is very positive, but these early results need to be considered with caution as it does take some time to build up a reliable and comparable assessment,’’ she said.
There were also counters city-wide, which assessed levels of cycling outside the major cycleway routes.
That data would also be used to determine the effectiveness of the cycleways, Ellis said.