Posts by Bart Janssen
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Hard News: The Unitec project: Something…, in reply to Russell Brown,
I'd really like to see them explore taking the crossing out of the equation and running the shared path under the bridge and directly to the Wairaka precinct.
That would seem to be the obvious solution. The Te Atatu tunnel is a great example of a bike/pedestrian tunnel. It shouldn't be too big a project.
It would be really good if such a tunnel went in before the construction on the site started. Carrington Road is not going to be fun for the duration and giving people a safe way across when that becomes a major route for trucks has got to be a priority.
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Kinda funny to watch folks rant and rave about who started what when and exactly how many and how much.
What is being proposed is unlike anything seen in Auckland before. It's a development that has to be dense yet has to avoid being a slum. The infrastructure alone will be unlike anything done before in NZ.
No we don't know the details, nobody does yet.
No we don't know the final number of houses, but it will be dense.
No we don't know the final house prices - really? you asked that question given the way Auckland house prices have moved - how stupid are you?
I'm really relieved it will be government run because the private developers have consistently cut corners on infrastructure resulting in huge costs borne by local and central government anyway while the developers walk away with any profit.
I will say I'd like to see serious effort to improve the already good cycle infrastructure. This density will only work if residents don't all have three cars that need to be parked on the public roads. The Carrington Rd crossing has to be fixed and the route by the creek has to become a commuter route and not just a Sunday ride playground.
So far I think it all sounds good - it will be interesting to see how it works out.
It will change this part of the city forever.
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retailers will see works for as long as 18 months, some of that time with their footpaths dug up. AT and the local board really need to work on minimising the impact of construction time on those businesses.
This is a real problem with the way things are being done at the moment. Jobs that should be done in weeks take months.
Part of that is the retailers own fault by insisting that works do not disrupt business during the day they end up having a long slow disruption rather than a quick efficient job.
Works like this can be done very quickly with the right planning, commitment and budget. that's what they do in real cities. At some point retailers and AT need to realise that working as if Auckland is a small town just isn't best for anyone.
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Hard News: Bikelash, paralysis – and progress, in reply to TracyMac,
Nature Baby and their view of their clientele
It's interesting how really wrong most business owners are in their perception of their own clients.
The elitist view that most of their customers are rich and would therefore drive their BMW SUVs to the shop rather than busing is kinda revolting.
The other classic is "all my customers drive here and park right outside" which every time it's been tested is just not true. The most extreme example being K road where 2% park on the street but business groups still insist that the street parking is essential for their business.
I love the ones who say they need that parking for their customers and then park their own car there all day, looking at you Balmoral.
Given the lack of customer awareness I'm surprised any businesses survive at all.
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What I think is interesting is so many people think the tweet is about cycling.
So much so that you get anti-cycling responses.
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if you would prefer 2018 to be any less weird than 2017, you're likely to be out of luck
Add into that the fact that this is an election year.
Now the thought was that because many of the Senate and Congress seats up for election were safe as houses Republican seats then there was no way there could be a change of the balance in Congress or Senate ... and then there was Alabama.
Can anyone imagine what Trump would be like with a Democratic majority in Congress or Senate or both? I sure as hell can't guess what he'd do.
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Hard News: The hard road to a…, in reply to Russell Brown,
AT would be buying a massive fight by removing that much parking.
True. It would be a fight. The question is would it actually be the best decision for all users?
I don't know the answer to that but experience overseas argues that removing carparks increases shopping in areas where that has been done.
The sad thing is that because a small number of protesters such a question can't even be posed let alone investigated properly.
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Hard News: The hard road to a…, in reply to Glenn Pearce,
being forced into taking shortcuts because of budget restrictions.
I suspect a lot of it is that. Auckland just doesn't have the income of other big cities.
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Hard News: The hard road to a…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Another example is the bike route running parallel to Dominion Rd.
Parau St is a good example where speed bumps are used to slow traffic. For me on the bike I just get up on the pedals and let the bike go over the speed bump under me without slowing down, whereas the cars (usually) slow down.
The intent is to make it safer for me and the kids who use this street.
However if a car passes me at the top of the street then I will pass it at every speed bump - instead of one interaction with the car I now have multiple interactions with the same car.
Add a line of parked cars and the odd road narrowing and instead of making accidents between cars and bike less likely, AT has made them a near certainty - albeit with the slight advantage that it will probably be a low speed accident and result in merely a few broken bones.
Anyone riding that street knows this. Anyone spending even a couple of hours watching traffic on that street knows this.
So AT got it wrong. They tried something and it didn't work for this street - shit happens. The problem is, they will NEVER change it. Because they are unable to admit mistakes and because they don't go back and look at what they've done to see if it works. Instead it gets ticked off and they never think about it again ...
unless someone dies.
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Hard News: The hard road to a…, in reply to Sacha,
older kiwis. not so much into the future.
Agreed. Which is another layer in the adaption problem.
That said, that varies in different parts of Auckland. I don't have to ride very far to see people who clearly spend half their weekend cleaning polishing and modifying their car(s). For some it's the only large asset they are likely to ever own.