Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Cycle Frolic

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  • Kumara Republic,

    And in Wellington, for all her faults the Green-leaning Mayor Celia Wade-Brown seems to be the target of an active setting-up-to-fail campaign by the DomPost.

    Every few editions, it's all about 'luddites' and 'council dithering' holding up the Basin Reserve Flyover, rubbishing much of Celia's public transit plans as 'unaffordable', and blaming the region's economic malaise on her despite the public sector austerities imposed by Central Govt.

    Latest article is effectively implying that Mayor Celia was spiteful towards her former mayoral rival John Morrison and drove away an 'Indian business delegation', all because of a Council decision to reject a large subsidy for Morrison. There's a small mention of the old-money blue-rinser Jo Coughlan being involved in the rejection, but the tone of the article is obvious.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Lilith __,

    Supercity! Remind me why that was a good idea?

    Here's one: North-western cycleway upgrades and extensions. You actually think the previous collection could've mustered the collective coherence to negotiate with NZTA to get the quality of work done in as many places as has been achieved?
    Also, the libraries. All of the books.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    Also, the libraries. All of the books

    Had already joined up their systems before the amalgamation.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Gracewood,

    I don't know how to put this charitably, but the Ciclovia thing today was ... poor.

    Sure there was a ton of effort by all involved, the clowns and repair stations and events were neat, but overall the setup and layout by (I presume) the council was atrocious. Where do I start?

    Riding from North Wharf to Quay Street was pleasant, a slow careful ride amongst pedestrians, co-existing nicely, but then we got spat out at the intersection of Quay and Hobson Streets, which appeared to be in full use by vehicles, with no points-person on duty.

    We muddled our way across that intersection and there we were on (half of) Quay St. The other half had busses rolling along, tooting at anyone who dared to stray out of the corralled area. At this point I had to ask why did they do it on Quay St? There's no significant retail to benefit from the extra foot traffic, and it's bloody hard to access on bike from most angles.

    We reached the ferry building, where the road was blocked by fire engines, and turned around.

    Later I found out that Quay Street was in fact closed all the way down to Britomart Place, but you wouldn't have known unless you squeezed past the fire engines to find out. Apparently there was a Fire Rescue display on Queens Wharf, with engines parked on the closed Quay St.

    We turned around to head back to the viaduct, and were almost bowled by a car turning right onto the Princes Wharf. That Hobson st intersection again: bikes on the right hand side of the road arrived at the LIVE intersection with no visible traffic signals. A total deathtrap to be honest.

    Overall a pretty negative experience, which fucking sucks. Imagine if they'd closed Ponsonby Road. We could have shopped, had coffee, and cycled up and down the road all day.

    But nah, Ponsonby Road is only closed for mainstream stuff like Hero, not fringe deviant behaviour like cycling. Sigh.

    Orkland • Since Nov 2006 • 168 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle, in reply to Sacha,

    Had already joined up their systems before the amalgamation.

    Not in any way that made a difference to punters though.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Ben Gracewood,

    Riding from North Wharf to Quay Street was pleasant, a slow careful ride amongst pedestrians, co-existing nicely, but then we got spat out at the intersection of Quay and Hobson Streets, which appeared to be in full use by vehicles, with no points-person on duty.

    We muddled our way across that intersection and there we were on (half of) Quay St. The other half had busses rolling along, tooting at anyone who dared to stray out of the corralled area. At this point I had to ask why did they do it on Quay St? There’s no significant retail to benefit from the extra foot traffic, and it’s bloody hard to access on bike from most angles.

    We reached the ferry building, where the road was blocked by fire engines, and turned around.

    I started at the ferry building and was immediately deterred from heading east. And the Quay-Hobson St intersection was a shambles: I'm a confident street rider and I was confused about where I was meant to be.

    I genuinely appreciate the sentiment for this event, but the execution was really half-hearted.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Sacha,

    Had already joined up their systems before the amalgamation.

    You've been able to do inter-library loan across NZ for years. It was being able to go to any library in the region that happens to have the book you want, without having to go through the hassle of inter-library loan, which was the real bonus. Especially for people who lived close to a boundary and another council's library.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    Agreed. An early tangible result for citizens because the council libraries were already joined up behind the scenes years before with common software. The rest of the organisations, on the other hand..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    Additional information from ACC:

    from 2008 through 2012 for cyclist and pedestrian collisions there were a total of 19 claims by cyclists and 26 claims by pedestrians.

    That's 42.3% of claims by cyclists and 57.7% of claims by pedestrians.

    The numbers of claims are so low that they won’t be any more granular because it’s theoretically possible to identify individual claimants, which is fair enough.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

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