UPDATED POST 27.2.13
If there is no [NZTA] subsidy, the cost will be $70.6 million.
See further comment by JimmyJones based on statements in DCC annual plans.
Comment received.
JimmyJones
Submitted on 2013/02/24 at 5:55 pm
That could be, Hype O’Thermia. Perhaps the intracranial aphids explain why they keep getting their financial estimates so badly wrong.
It seems to me that the Team has been working on this for a few years and waiting for a few cycling deaths to help with the promotion of their ideas. The amount of publicity given to these deaths has been far beyond what is typical for previous cycling deaths and very different to the average pedestrian and motor vehicle death. No doubt the Team has good links with the ODT and it helps to have control of the $5 million Spin-doctor Machine. One of those is perfect for persuading the councillors that your ideological brain-explosions won’t cost much and that everyone will like them eventually.
As Elizabeth mentioned, election success can be greatly enhanced by the timing of a cycle-way media promotion, if this is part of your policy. There need not be collusion for this to happen: the Rosebud Team are very focused on their goals and know the value of getting the best people elected that share their ideology. It’s symbiotic self interest, and (probably) not corruption. The good of the Team is the important thing, far more important than the City and the People.
[ends]
Visit the discussion on this thread:
DCC: Council meeting agenda and reports for 25 February 2013
Report – Council – 25/02/2013 (PDF, 1.5 MB)
South Dunedin Cycle Network
—
Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
What if? Dunedin... 
South Dunedin cycleways plan goes to consultation
Plans for a $4.5 million investment in cycleways in South Dunedin have passed another hurdle, despite a suggestion that cycleways offering only the protection of a painted white line should be abandoned.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/247215/south-dunedin-cycleways-plan-goes-consultation
—
Has Jinty lost her marbles ???? —yes
[ODT] Most councillors backed the plans at yesterday’s meeting, including Cr Jinty MacTavish, who praised the ”really worthwhile” investment that would save fuel, reduce health costs and bring other benefits.
ViaStrada (stupid name), of ‘silent majority v squeaky wheel’ fame and derision, have been creaming fees for how long now…. Thanks DCC Rosebud team.
Such a hard push…. must be the year to elect Liability Cull again, said Allied Press (who gave up on finding another candidate)
—
### ch9.co.nz February 26, 2013 – 6:40pm
Work on cycle route could begin this year
Work on a cycle route connecting South Dunedin with the city could begin as early as this year. The news follows a decision by the council to endorse the South Dunedin Cycle Network. And it should mean changes to the streets of the southern city.
Video
Dunedin City Council – Media Release
South Dunedin Cycle Network Community Consultation
28 March 2013
Plans are underway for the extension of the city’s cycling network, starting with the South Dunedin area, and the DCC is seeking public feedback and will be in contact with residents in the affected areas.
In August 2011, the Council adopted the Strategic Cycle Network for Dunedin, which gave the network of routes in South Dunedin the highest priority for design and construction. Since then, the South Dunedin Cycle Network has been refined to cater for all levels of cycling.
Due to the number of changes to the original adopted network, the DCC is consulting with the community on the revised South Dunedin cycle network. The new network includes separated bicycle facilities, shared paths, on-road bicycle lanes and ‘quiet streets’ (back street routes where traffic movements may be restricted).
The DCC is seeking community input, via an online survey at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/cyclesurvey, into the proposals – are they the right streets for the cycle network? Are the proposed treatments appropriate?
In addition, community consultation sessions will be held at the South Dunedin Presbyterian Church, 393 King Edward Street, South Dunedin on Wednesday, 10 April from 3.30pm to 7.30pm, and on Saturday 13 April from 10am to 12 noon outside the South Dunedin Community Centre (255 King Edward Street, South Dunedin).
DCC staff will be available to discuss the proposed network, and explain the types of treatments planned for each route. Information is also available on at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/sdcyclenetwork or the public can contact Lisa Clifford on 477 4000 or lclifford@dcc.govt.nz.
Contact Senior Transportation Planner on 474 3877.
DCC Link
Related Post:
28.3.13 DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project
GREATER DUNEDIN AND THE PRO-CYCLING STADIUM+HOTEL COUNCILLORS
Once again, ODT misses the glaring opportunity to question the total project spend (with or without NZTA subsidy) indicated in the DCC Annual Plans (plural). So now it’s set up to attract every bug-eyed hippy-new-age-greeny cyclist and the organised cycling lobbyists to hit up the freaking city councillors for more outrageous spending.
Wants? Needs? >> Council Bankruptcy (not paying off council DEBT quickly enough… more exposure to banking volatility in the global trading cupboard, yep, all’s fine, what happens in the dark we can’t see, so it’s not real…)
—
### ODT Online Sun, 31 Mar 2013
Cyclist feedback sought
The Dunedin City Council is seeking feedback on a planned $4.5 million extension of the city’s cycling network through South Dunedin. Since the council adopted a preferred strategic cycle network for Dunedin in 2011, the South Dunedin network has been refined so much the council is consulting the public on its new plans. The new proposed network includes separated bicycle facilities, shared paths, on-road bicycle lanes and ”quiet streets” where traffic movements may be restricted by lower speed limits and traffic calming measures. Five sections of the South Dunedin cycle network are planned for construction in 2013.
Read more
The health costs of those involved in non-fatal cycle accidents vs reduction in health costs by cycling. Factor in the inevitable inhalation of exhaust gases and other atmospheric pollution including fecal particles shed by stock vehicles. Results on a separate page, show raw data (raw what?) and calculations (if any) from which you drew your conclusions.
Has Jinty lost her marbles? Elizabeth, I don’t know about that, but she is hugely enthusiastic about the cycle ways. The $4.5 million so lightly touched upon is another of the “sell the sizzle never mind about the sausage”, outbursts of this gloriously young lady. If we look a tiny bit closer we find that the programme is to spend the $4.5m over three years 2012/13 thru 2014/15. But hey! that’s not all. In the following years 2015/16 thru 2022/23 they are to spend a further $8.235m to make it $12.735m in total. God knows what after that. Where does the money come from? It’s not Jinty’s marbles, but the ‘witch doctor’s bones’ we should be consulting. I am sorry, but the very thought of reducing spending to fit our ability to pay simply doesn’t come into their reckoning. In a word, “let’s do it.”
Yes but Calvin, it’s so SUSTAINABLE. And GREEN. And PLANET-SAVING.
Calvin, you know how good you are at getting ODT to publish you nowadays, maybe a glancing blow on the cycling spend could happen (akin to your short comment here, very telling) – but only if you have any spare time left over from the greater fiscal challenge that is DCC to critique.
And probably made in China.
Calvin, for the whole of the proposed Cycle Network, we can see on page 31 section 2 of the draft annual plan approved on Monday that for this year and the next 10 years, capital expenditure on bicycles adds up to $14.6 million. As you say, the spending continues beyond the 10 years shown. Probably a better estimate of the total cost is $24 million from the “Items For Prioritisation” from last year’s annual plan. $24 million is the “Total cost to DCC” with a “possible 66% NZTA subsidy” for routes with a significant crash history.
The councillors have been assured that the NZTA funding is virtually a certainty, but my guess is that they will have a problem establishing a significant crash history in South Dunedin and other areas. If there is no subsidy, the cost will be $70.6 million.
The Strategy And Development department have been dishonest with financial estimates in recent years: the Town Hall /Dunedin Centre is a classic example. This estimate of $70.6m is bound to be fictional and underestimated. It seems very unlikely that this figure includes the cost of their Neighbourhood Greenways (Quiet Streets) experiment. God knows how much that will cost. This is large scale vandalism of South Dunedin done in the name of Town Planning. And I expect that this will be part of Greater Dunedin’s electioneering policy, but they won’t mention the total cost.
Updated post.
And who is the little man at NZTA holding the purse strings that will be assisting his old friends at council to be re-elected?
Also. Don’t ye forget the make-up of the local recommending committee to NZTA – from the ORC website:
Membership of the Otago Regional Transport Committee (ORTC) as at 1 June 2012:
Cr Stephen Woodhead (Chair)
Cr David Shepherd (Deputy Chair)
Cr Hamish Anderson
Cr Graeme Bell
Mayor Vanessa van Uden
Cr Jim Hopkins
Cr Andrew Noone
Mr Jim Harland ex DCC chief executive
Mr Bruce Richards ex DCC City Planning
Inspector Stephen Larking
Ms Lyn McKie
Mr John Christie
Mr Tom Scott
ORC Link
These proposed new cycleways do not make it easier to travel from South Dunedin to the city. They add a considerable distance to the route and there is still the problem of crossing Musselburgh Rise road and Portsmouth Drive. Royal Crescent is not far from Queens Drive which is shorter, is wide, has little traffic or parked cars, and does not require a cycle lane. The section on Portobello Road is 4-lane with little traffic and can be easily cycled as it is. But Midland Street is a much better route anyway because it has lights to cross Portsmouth Drive, and has cycle lanes already. The Council is locating these new cycleways where they are easy to build, regardless of whether they are any use. At a consultation meeting the Council representative said that the new cycleways were not for cyclists like me anyway, they were for parents to go cycling with their children. This does not seem to be a good enough reason to spend millions of dollars.
The full cost is MUCH MUCH more than cited here by Ms Wheeler. Then there’s the cost of total inconvenience to other road users! The whole thing is ridiculous.
—
### ODT Online Thu, 25 Apr 2013
Cycleway plans unveiled
Artists’ impressions commissioned by the Dunedin City Council show what cycleway improvements proposed for Royal Crescent and Portobello Rd, both in southern Dunedin, would look like. […] They were among a mix of cycleway facilities planned for South Dunedin, also including quiet streets, on-road cycle lanes and shared paths. The cost of the $4.5 million project – details of which were the subject of public consultation – would be shared between the council ($1.5 million) and the New Zealand Transport Agency ($3 million).
Read more + Images
I am surprised that Councillors have not realised that there are votes to be had by opposing spending on cycling lanes. As a cyclist, I have been the recipient of an many comments: the “cycle-lane graffiti” on the roads is ugly, confusing, and narrows the space available for motorists. I am not sure that it makes cyclists safer, and may cause more car accidents.
Over-heard in a cafe:
“What are those green bits on the road”
“They are for cyclists”
“Don’t they get run over?”
This really does my head in. It’s not just Dunedin, It’s the nationwide narrowmindedness (if that’s a word) of the transport authority. You simply swap the cycle lane with the parking bays, and the problem is solved. That’s how the rest of the world has managed it. The driving lanes remain exactly as they were, so there are no negatives for traffic flow. Zero extra cost if you are painting new cycleway markings anyway, and you now have a physical barrier of parked cars between cyclists and moving traffic. Free of charge. Eliminate the source and you eliminate the problem. Mind boggling.
There’s still the risk of passenger doors being opened into the face of a cyclist. But overall, it’s a much safer arrangement.
In a word: INEXPERIENCED staff cause bad planning and blow-outs. Not rocket science like they hoped !!!
DCC, EXPLAIN the Highway Robbery to vulnerable Ratepayers and Residents you’ve damaged, assaulted and impoverished.
—
### ODT Online Sat, 2 May 2015
Cycleway work proceeds slowly
By Vaughan Elder on
The Dunedin City Council no longer has a ”firm” schedule for the controversial $6.07 million South Dunedin cycle network after learning from past delays. This comes as construction on the network happening now, or expected to begin soon, was work previously scheduled for last year. Council transportation group manager Gene Ollerenshaw acknowledged the work had taken longer than expected, saying the council was no longer working to a firm schedule.
Read more
Infirm council adopts new schedule (“the council was no longer working to a firm schedule”) employing what they refer to in secret reports as “endemic methodologies”. Our reporter’s inside informer leaked in gratitude for half a dozen Speights. We can reveal this now exclusively to readers of What If? –
* pick a number
* pin a tail on the high-paid monkey
* whatever.
.
“No longer working to a “firm” schedule” implies also they are no longer working to a “firm budget”. It’s classic “Parkinson’s Law” where the work and cost expands to fill the time available. And they admit the time is an unknown, just as is the cost.
DCC TRANSPORTATION PLANNING DISASTER NUMERO $$$$$$$$
### ODT Online Fri, 29 May 2015
Safety fears at St Clair’s ‘concrete paradise’
By Vaughan Elder
St Clair local Conrad Stedman is among a group of residents concerned at how difficult traffic islands installed as part of the Dunedin City Council’s $6.07 million South Dunedin cycle network have made manoeuvring for drivers navigating the intersections. To make his point, he has dubbed the traffic islands at the intersection of Coughtrey St, Hargest Cres and Richardson St “Hargest Island”, complete with its own Facebook page inviting people to visit.
Read more
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Visit-Hargest-Island/378641152335866
Very funny. Top marks to Conrad Stedman and friends and neighbours, eg
“There are two main islands for accommodation and relaxing. There are two smaller islands close by for growing food. There are also extensions from the mainland which look like they are islands but they are just the closest points from which one travels…See More”
and
“Site is a work in progress. Accommodation in planning stages but cycle track on the island is nearing completion. Photos to come.”
Laugh a second if not for IMPEDIMENT to NZ Fire Service, and RATEPAYERS.
—
### ODT Online Wed, 3 Jun 2015
Island leaves no room for fire truck
By Craig Borley
Fire engines are no longer able to negotiate a St Clair intersection, because of traffic islands installed as part of Dunedin’s new cycleway network. […]Dunedin City Council infrastructure and networks general manager Ruth Stokes said the council had consulted emergency services during the cycleway’s design phase and had not received any complaints from them since work began.
Read more
{Both comments received on wrong threads. -Eds}
—
John Evans
Submitted on 2015/06/03 at 8:54 am
Dunedin city planning should lose a few heads today! http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/344531/island-leaves-no-room-fire-truck
Regards
John Evans
—
John Evans
Submitted on 2015/06/03 at 4:38 am
Why cycle lanes are a waste of money!
The cyclists ride on the road anyway. There is no excuse for the behavior of either of these muppets, but it does tell astory.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/69040607/Video-Cyclist-and-4×4-driver-in-pure-road-rage-fight http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/69040607/Video-Cyclist-and-4×4-driver-in-pure-road-rage-fight Regards
John Evans