Hard News: Two roads lead to the city
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Thanks for this Russell - as a fellow Pt Chevian and cyclist I share your concerns. I hope the pohutukawas can stay (I signed and shared the petition yesterday) even if they do need to be trimmed a little. Meola Rd is a problem alright, especially that hill below the roundabout - when cycling up it I routinely take to the footpath to get out of the way of vehicles.
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Meola Road hill has been shocking for years. They are currently working on it, but I think it is just to raise the kerbs, and is likely to leave the metre near the kerb in a worse state than ever. I always switch onto the footpath just after the Scout Den because the road surface is so uneven.
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Not that it is really any consolation, but for a couple of years (perhaps it still is), there was a seam between the parking seal and the roadway seal in the "perfect" spot in the middle of the bike lane where ideally you'd run your tyre (SH1 North - Dunedin). And every time you'd hit it, instead of riding over it, it'd track you along its line. Luckily for me, is/was not on the bit I use/d routinely.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Meola Road hill has been shocking for years. They are currently working on it, but I think it is just to raise the kerbs, and is likely to leave the metre near the kerb in a worse state than ever.
Yes, it's just the kerbs as part of the footpath upgrade and yes, it's rough asphalt patches slapped on a degraded road that's gone unfixed for years. It's just weird.
I always switch onto the footpath just after the Scout Den because the road surface is so uneven.
I do sometimes too, but it's hardly ideal to have to ride on the footpath because a busy road hasn't been repaired for years.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
And every time you’d hit it, instead of riding over it, it’d track you along its line.
That's just such a dumb thing to do. Road engineers should be made to ride their own cycle lanes.
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it's hardly ideal to have to ride on the footpath
No it isn't but it's also quite easy not to mow down pedestrians on your bike too!
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Is it 3 down to pedestrian crossing (Pt Chev) and 2 lights controlled crossings (city side and MOTAT side)? The graphic isn't explicit.
This is our route (including Miss 6) to Western Springs from Kingsland so some clarity would be great.
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I'd like to see the trees stay too, but there really does seem to be a 1 step forward 2 step back element to any cycling progress in the city, & i agree the soccer morning insanity is crazy, and there again the problem is compounded by facilities not providing secure bike racks. How hard can it be...
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Is it 3 down to pedestrian crossing (Pt Chev) and 2 lights controlled crossings (city side and MOTAT side)? The graphic isn’t explicit.
That's how it looks to me. One pedestrian crossing (for which cars must stop) and two lights-controlled crossings, down from three pedestrian crossings and two lights-controlled. There's quite a loss of pedestrian rights in it.
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to ease the transition to the new bridge
Where's the problem they are trying to fix, exactly?
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Ken Sparks, in reply to
Where's the problem they are trying to fix, exactly?
In their heads I suspect...
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As a seasoned cyclist I loathe that St. Lukes Intersection. I routinely bypass it by riding the Motat Tram tracks; they'd make such a good cycleway if it weren't for the odd tram :-)
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Russell Brown, in reply to
As a seasoned cyclist I loathe that St. Lukes Intersection. I routinely bypass it by riding the Motat Tram tracks; they’d make such a good cycleway if it weren’t for the odd tram :-)
You tram-hating monster! ;-)
I have to ride through it all the time, and more particularly I have to turn right to go over the overbridge. I ride hard and look to get to the front of the queue on the other side, but it's not for the faint of heart.
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Tim Welch, in reply to
it’s not for the faint of heart.
That describes cycling in Auckland in general...
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Where’s the problem they are trying to fix, exactly?
In their heads I suspect…
The upgrades are all focused on adding capacity in time for the opening of the tunnel in 2017, and that really is necessary. The widening of the bridge will help mitigate the "stacking" of vehicles trying to turn right onto the motorway west.
But some communications I've seen do underline that the engineers' sole focus is on getting motorised traffic through faster, rather than impact on place (or, really, any consideration of place at all). The engineers want the trees gone so they can put in two left-turning lanes.
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I've always wondered why they don't take cyclists and pedestrians under the road, particularly at intersections like the St Lukes overbridge. It's a method used in Davis CA a lot, essentially a very big drain pipe gets laid under the road and becomes a safe path for bikes.
It's particularly good in places like St Lukes where you want to raise the road up to the bridge anyway. A couple of tunnels at each end of the bridge would make life a lot safer for bikes and pedestrians and might make the actual bridge crossing for bikes easier to design.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
But some communications I’ve seen do underline that the engineers’ sole focus is on getting motorised traffic through faster
One way to do that is to totally separate pedestrians and bikes from cars and trucks.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
There’s quite a loss of pedestrian rights
Silly Russell. Pedestrians don't have rights, they merely have allowances that interfere with the passage of the true rights-holders: automobiles.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
totally separate pedestrians and bikes from cars and trucks.
But the cost, Bart! And the loss of precious road space!
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
One way to do that is to totally separate pedestrians and bikes from
cars and trucks....and buses, let the vehicles fight it out...
the above pic is from the excellent Buswatchnz site
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Tim Welch, in reply to
I've always wondered why they don't take cyclists and pedestrians under the road, particularly at intersections like the St Lukes overbridge. It's a method used in Davis CA a lot, essentially a very big drain pipe gets laid under the road and becomes a safe path for bikes.
I'd love to know the answer to this as well; surely it would be a simple and inexpensive solution to separating cyclists\pedestrians from motorized vehicles.
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Sacha, in reply to
engineers’ sole focus is on getting motorised traffic through faster
that’s their profession’s lone KPI, yes
#flow -
Sacha, in reply to
The widening of the bridge will help mitigate the “stacking” of vehicles trying to turn right onto the motorway west.
That I understand, but raising the road? I've never seen drivers struggling with it.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
That I understand, but raising the road? I’ve never seen drivers struggling with it.
That's the explanation I got. As a cyclist, I wouldn't want steep bridges either, tbh.
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Sacha, in reply to
I thought they might even be thinking of cyclists..
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