Shared pathway: New cycleway cuts commute time for busy mum

Busy working mum Erin King enjoys biking into work each day but she will enjoy her commute even more now stage one of the RapanuiShag Rock cycleway opens.

The Rapanui-Shag Rock cycleway is one of the new major cycleway routes being built across Christchurch to connect communities and to make it safer for people to cycle.

The first stage of the cycleway opened on 13 December and takes cyclists from Linwood Park, through Linwood, into the city centre – a journey of about 2.5 kilometres.

“It’s going to make a big difference to me. I’m going to feel a lot safer and it’s going to save me some time,’’ says Ms King, who was encouraged to take up biking into work by the Council’s free central city travel programme.

Ms King’s morning routine currently involves biking with her six-year-old twins to their school, where she makes sure they get safely to their classroom before she pedals the final 5.5km through the busy streets of Bromley and Linwood into her office in the city centre.

The final stage of her commute takes her through some busy intersections and Ms King is quick to admit she has had some scary moments on her bike, including one incident in which she came within inches of being hit by the rear of a bus.

Ms King hopes by using the cycleway she will avoid the worst of the traffic and get to work quicker.

Work on the first stage of the Rapanui-Shag Rock cycleway has involved upgrading two signalised intersections along the route and installing a new signalised cycle and pedestrian crossing on busy Aldwins Road.

Landscaping and lighting along the route have also been upgraded.

Council Transport Planning and Delivery Manager Lynette Ellis says the cycleway will hopefully encourage more people to come into the city from the east by bike.

“It is taken a little longer to build than we initially envisaged as we encountered a few problems along the way but hopefully people will think it has been worth the wait and make good use of it,’’ Ms Ellis says.

Work on the second stage of the Rapanui-Shag Rock cycleway – the section between Linwood Park and Dyers Road – is scheduled to begin early in 2018..

The third and final stage of the cycleway will take cyclists from Dyers Road to Ferrymead Bridge where they will be able to connect with the Christchurch Coastal Pathway and the Ōpāwaho River Route.