The first one is from Pat Booth’s Off Pat column dated 26 July was brought to my attention by Frances. This is a good chance for you to get your grievances and suggestions on print. Email Pat your thoughts in 75 words.
Fairfax doesn’t seem interested in putting community paper stories online so here it is in verbatim:
Ringing a bell on cycle city
Yes, it was a clear case of tried-it-once-and-didn’t-like-it. Riding my bike to work in Auckland, that is.
Fresh from a flat, compact country town, I had come to the big city and the Big Time at the dear departed Auckland Star. Boarding on Dominion Rd, it just seemed so obvious, so healthy and so cheap so my trusty wheels were railed through to me and I set off.
No misgivings on the way in — bar problems of unfamiliar tram tracks and the bell-clanging brutes themselves, the trucks and pushy taxi drivers. But coming home settled this option for me — that long Symonds St upgrade that went on forever.
I rejoined the clang-happy trams.
That didn’t sour me all those years ago but perhaps it did make me suspicious of cyclists and their ways and wary in my local body days of the wild-eyed advocates who wanted to do what had failed me all those years ago — ride their flash multi-geared creations to work and have their own stretch of road for their very own.
Convincing they are too.
Witness that cycle track alongside the northwestern motorway to what seems its very own overbridge.
If the members of whatever now defunct local body who voted for it envisaged crowds like the Tour De France field thrashing down there all hours of the day they might feel guilty at their extravagance and the actual use it gets.
But I could well simply be someone with a long and painful memory. There are others, I know, who are full committed and methodical about the bike passion.
Like Tony Williams. He’s been a biker for 60 years and was stirred in his long-held opinion by the matching public views of Dr Alex Macmillan.
A physician and environmental health lecturer, she (yes, she) put a strong public case for what sounds like a biker’s heaven.
Dr Macmillan urged, for instance, bike lanes on every arterial road in the region.
She said: “Half the cost of the CBD rail loop could buy you a universal transformation of Auckland streets that would give you a bicycle mode share competing with the most bike-friendly cities in the world.”
That and more literally got Tony Williams on his bike.
Here is his exclusive travel diary — not all in tandem with Dr Macmillan’s views:
“Having noted the doctors’ concern in regard to provision for cyclists in Ngahue Drive, Mt Wellington, I did a trial ride. The major problem I would say is that the traffic engineers responsible for the upgrade are not cyclists.
“The doctor is right — the present design reflects badly on the council. The doctor is probably also right in suggesting safe provision for cyclists citywide could be achieved for half the cost of the CBD rail link, with a much higher return with regard to health (public and individual) and environmental improvement.
“Personally I would not see this as an either/or alternative but a case of both/and. I would part company with Dr Macmillan on cycleways between the footpath and parked cars. I can see the merits of the suggestion but after 60 years of daily cycling I would place much more confidence in drivers than in passengers in terms of their being aware of the traffic scene.
“There would be greater risk of riding into a passenger side door than the driver’s door as at present. There is also a lot of loading and unloading of passengers (elderly and children) and gear — pushchairs, sports gear, shopping, etc — on to the footpath from passenger-side doors and boot. I suspect there is no one solution. A start ight be to see what we now have that ‘works’ and use those distances and spacings on all roads and streets.
“Apart from dedicated cycleways (eg, parallel to the northwestern motorway Eden Terrace to Te Atatu, parallel to Highway 20 Onehunga to Sandringham Rd — except the Hillsborough section which is more than hairy — etc) all of which ‘work’, these give a good standard:
“Park Rd, Grafton from Park Ave to Grafton Rd inbound. The outbound side is diabolical (and the council was told that at the planning stage). Tamaki Drive south side Mission Bay to Ngapipi Rd (the coast side is plain hazardous — too narrow, uneven surfaces, overhanging trees, conflict with pedestrians).
“Great South Rd both sides Greenlane to Penrose — except Campbell Rd intersection. Symonds St west side, Alex Evans St to K Rd.
“Broken glass is a major hazard on cycleways, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, and need to be swept up regularly.
“Pedestrian refuges extending out from the footpath on to the roadway are lethal for cyclists — they are precisely where the cyclist is riding.
“Cycle stands are almost non-existent in Auckland (University of Auckland — okay, Ferry Terminal — okay, Newmarket Baths — so so).
“Progress will take time but it is something that should be started immediately and extensively. Input from a cyclists’ forum would be essential, particularly in indicating what is already shown to be acceptable.”
Got a bike? Got a view? What do you reckon in not more than 75 words.
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The second story is regarding the Greenways project:
These days, the only really negative cycling stories seem to be the odd dinosaur editorial, and even those are getting rarer. Good to see it.
community papers, including NS Times can be accessed through the Stuff "Auckland Now" site http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/north-shore-times/
Thanks Steve, that is indeed where I looked. However, if you click on the Pat Booth or 'Your feedback and opinions' links, they just 404. It's nice that they have a digital magazine-like edition but those are not archived.