SOLD OUT: Santa’s in the vocal minority
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ODT 14.11.13
OPINION: Cycleways and parking issues
Dunedin City Councillor Jinty MacTavish is happy the cycleway proposal has sparked discussion, but wants to keep the conversation grounded in fact. Cont/
Comment to article:
DCC’s +$47M cycleways project
Submitted by ej kerr on Thu, 14/11/2013 – 11:13pm.
Cr MacTavish has better things to do. She knows it. Her job as a city councillor is to take the air out of her various tyres and acknowledge that her loose-assemblage greenwash ‘political party’ should stop its spendthrift ways. Far better that they bend over backwards on quickly retiring the council’s +$623M consolidated debt. A harder workout than cruising on SH1 with the wind up their tails.
Reply:
Cycleway clarifications
Submitted by Jinty MacTavish on Fri, 15/11/2013 – 11:41am.
It’s an unfortunate urban myth that the DCC intends to spend $47M on cycleways, which seems to have originated from this article which double-counted the cost of a bunch of projects. I’ve asked staff to send through the breakdown and will post again here when I have the full details in front of me. Cont/
Discussion at What if? Dunedin:
JimmyJones
Submitted on 2013/11/17 at 9:25 pm
Sustainable Jinty commented in the ODT article referred to and said It’s an unfortunate urban myth that the DCC intends to spend $47M on cycleways, which seems to have originated from this article which double-counted the cost of a bunch of projects. I’ve asked staff to send through the breakdown and will post again here when I have the full details in front of me.
Here we see her claiming that the $47 million is a myth and that it has been wrongly calculated. She says this while not having the actual figures and not even knowing where it came from.
The figure actually came from the DCC at a forum in May this year involving the DCC and the NZTA ODT: City to lead country in cycle safety. We were told:
Dunedin is set to lead the country in cycle safety.
Projects worth more than $47 million will form a cycle network unlike any other within urban New Zealand, those at a forum in Dunedin heard last night. Mayor Dave Cull welcomed the almost 100 people present and explained why cycle infrastructure deserved significant investment.
It is clear that Jinty lied to us about the double counting. The figures are in the article, and there is no double counting. There is also no double counting in Jinty’s figures, because she doesn’t have any. Her attempt to discredit and minimize this estimated cost of bicycle projects has failed. Note how she re-interprets the claim as being DCC-only spending, whereas the claim has always been DCC + NZTA spending (Straw man). Richard Thomson on Radio Dunedin has been up to the same mischief (12/11/13). I say “mischief” but these statements could be offences against the Financial Reporting Act or other legislation. In any case this is very disappointing because the misinformation seems intentional. Desperation breeds dishonesty.
Reply:
Elizabeth
Submitted on 2013/11/17 at 10:38 pm | In reply to JimmyJones.
JimmyJones, I looked upon Cr MacTavish’s comment on the $47 million (in reply to a comment I made at ODT)… with sheer incredulity. I couldn’t believe what I was reading so didn’t even bother to reply.
However, glad you brought it up. You correctly place the councillor’s comment in context here and of course (!!!) what she says does not shine in a pure angelic or intelligent light. The quality of her ‘homework’ has dropped out the bottom, as ’twere.
Well done, JJ.
Related Post and Comments:
17.11.13 Cull, MacTavish: (to borrow a phrase) “Have you fixed the debt crisis?”
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
What if? Dunedin... 
This council won’t be satisfied until it’s clocked a billion dollars in debt. Dave and his Grating Dunedin puppets are hell bent on sinking more public money into non-essential services at any cost, all while facilitating the get richer schemes of the usual suspects.
I wish those involved in the corruption of this council are [insert your preferred sentence].
Poor speedfreak43…
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That can’t be right
Submitted by speedfreak43 on Fri, 27/12/2013 – 9:17am.
Quote from above [see article ‘CBD flooded with shoppers’]
“Large numbers of people trying to find parks in the central city also clogged up streets, slowing traffic.”
Where are all the cyclists you lot keep bragging about. Surely there were many more new cyclists in the last few days. There should have been plenty of spare parking as the cycle lanes were filled to capacity.
Yeah, let’s just remove a few hundred carparks to appease the non existent cyclists.
Bah humbug.
### dunedintv.co.nz January 17, 2014 – 7:13pm
Cycleway workers brave the elements
A widened cycleway along Portsmouth Drive is close to completion, with workers braving the elements as they reach the end of the project.
Video
### ODT Online Sun, 19 Jan 2014
Cycle network starting to take shape
By Brenda Harwood – The Star
Cycle and pedestrian routes through the southern city are opening up, as work progresses on phase one of the South Dunedin cycleway-walkway network. Work started in mid-November on four connecting sections of the network. Contractor Fulton Hogan is on track to construct about 3.5km of 3m-wide pathways in the area by April. The $1.7 million project is phase one of the $4.5 million South Dunedin strategic cycle network.
Read more
Excellent! The cyclists will be well pleased. Not sure about the budget though. $4.5m for starters and a tentative projection of $47m overall seems not to be consistent with Dave’s avowal that spending is now contained. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t he say last year that from now on the thrust would be debt reduction? It is going to be very interesting to see how the next Annual Plan turns out. I don’t see how $47m over the next few years will sit with the ever growing problem of the Stadium financing, plus Jinty’s “save the city from Global warming” projects, with debt reduction. Looks to me like it is ‘full steam ahead’ and to heck with the money. Let’s hope CEO Bidrose has the ‘heft’ to put a stop to this nonsense.
Calvin, your last point reminds me that we still don’t know who the new chief executive truly is. Media such as it is in the city have yet to test and interview her with appropriate strength.
My view is that she fully supports make-work schemes that come out of city planning, urban design, policy planning, transportation planning et al (the boffins that Cull grabbed his ideas from in his first term; ideas that were started by Jim Harland acting with his ‘planning’ hat on). The so-called city development team are still charged with making the city attractive for new entrants (oooh isn’t that lovely!)… in ways that include the $47m cycle lane network, since you’ll have seen in yesterday’s newspaper that the council is applying for resource consent to continue the Portobello Rd and Harington Point Rd widening/cycleway project apace – a large chunk of the $47m total spend.
This idea, like so many others at DCC, might be good before the actual numbers apply! A lot of the spendthrift ideas too, were raised during the appointment as general manager, serving Dave Cull and Greater Dunedin councillors as well as those councillors who have no idea of financial restraint and never have had. Cull has a lapdog whether she likes it or not. There is no independence possible with this CE – and that’s not all her fault, put it down to cumulative effects of this council’s recent history.
I welcome that she proves herself publicly and convincingly this year in particular – so far, unproven and observed as being less than required. It’s not enough to say anything about adherence to “public service” as we saw on Channel 39 end of last year… my god, senior public servants on high salaries are invariably mixed blessings. Never be comfortable with thinking the answer is one person – always look at the team.
Avery is still there, for starters – a sad costly relic of the Harland/Orders régimes.
Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Next Step For Road Improvements Project
This item was published on 17 Jan 2014.
The Dunedin City Council has lodged a resource consent application for reclamation work associated with the upgrading of Portobello and Harington Point Roads on the Otago Peninsula. The application was initially lodged with the Otago Regional Council in December and will be publicly advertised tomorrow [Saturday]. Submissions on the applications close on 17 February. The DCC’s Transportation Operations department has made a similar consent application to the DCC to address District Plan requirements relating to the sea wall.
Some areas of the road which runs around the Otago Harbour between Vauxhall and Taiaroa Head have already been widened. Under this proposal, the rest of the road would be widened in stages over at least the next decade. DCC Projects Engineer Evan Matheson says the proposed upgrade work involves widening the road by about 5m to allow for the construction of a new footpath, a new cycleway and some road corner improvements. The work covers seven sections of road between Burns Point (Vauxhall) and Harington Point village and involves about 13.1km of road.
The consent application to the Regional Council also includes relocating some boat sheds and jetties to accommodate the road widening. There is a proposed sequence for the staged construction work and this will be considered further as part of the Draft 2014/15 Annual Plan process.
Mr Matheson says construction is planned to start this year and would be staged over the next 10-12 years, subject to funding. The current estimate for this part of the widening project is $26 million. The new sea wall would be constructed using hand-placed rock in accordance with established heritage protocols. More details on the project and maps can be found at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/rma ** from Saturday.
Contact Projects Engineer, Transportation Operations on 477 4000.
DCC Link
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Direct Links:
█ Public Notice: Saturday 18 January 2014 (PDF, 50.4 KB)
Resource Consent Notice, Weekly Meeting Schedule, Temporary Road Closures & Street Activity.
█ Resource Consent Application: Dunedin City Council (Transportation Group) (Proposed road improvement works)
Closes: 17 February 2014.
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See Post and Comments:
28.3.13 DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project
“The current estimate for this part of the widening project is $26 million.” So, that, plus $4.5m already in the works, plus whatever SH1 contribution in the way of direct costs, plus parking loss mitigation, makes that $47 million looking like being overshot seriously. If all this is embedded in the new Annual Plan then forget any debt reduction, but rather look for the full accommodation of $850 million being taken up. Proof positive that Dave Cull and his GD team have no intention of economising.
This is a year to write submissions on the Draft Annual Plan – last year I didn’t for the first time; this year I will.
### ODT Online Mon, 20 Jan 2014
Peninsula road plan includes boardwalks
By Rebecca Fox
For the first time boardwalks will be constructed to allow Otago Harbour’s heritage sea wall to be seen as part of the proposal to ”fill in the gaps” between the cycle and walkways along Otago Peninsula roads from Dunedin to Harington Point. The Dunedin City Council is applying for 10 coastal resource consents from the Otago Regional Council and four land-use consents from itself to widen the road between Vauxhall and Harington Point to improve traffic safety at a cost of about $27 million.
Read more
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Road-widening: (via ODT)
Vauxhall and Harington Point road-widening
• Involves 13.4km to be done in seven stretches
Boardwalks to be built along:
• 80m Ohinetu Point to Harington Point (stretch one)
• 255m King George St to Hereweka St, Portobello (stretch two)
• 90m Proctors Rd to Rosehill Rd (stretch six)
• 80m Company Bay to King George St (stretch seven)
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### ODT Online Mon, 20 Jan 2014
Feedback prompts Peninsula roadworks review
By Debbie Porteous
Feedback over the past year has prompted the Dunedin City Council to review in what order it widens sections of Otago Peninsula roads to fix sea walls and add shared paths for cyclists and pedestrians.
Read more
Three options for councillors to consider: (via ODT)
• Critical widening of Harington Point Rd then work at Broad Bay and Portobello; leaving less populated sections in those areas until end of programme (Dunedin-Macandrew Bay sections completed a year earlier)
• Complete critical work at Harington Point Rd then start from Dunedin end and work north (Dunedin-Macandrew Bay section 3 years earlier)
• Start from Dunedin end and move north (Dunedin-Macandrew Bay section 4 years earlier)
We have former CE Paul Orders to thank for Robert Clark’s rise from ‘City Property Manager’ to ‘Economic Development and Property Group Manager’. Think about that wrt city council direction. [And in a separate context, think about property acquisition for SH88 realignment.] Ah, lots to think about.
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### ODT Online Tue, 21 Jan 2014
Negotiations continue for lease of cycle path land
By Debbie Porteous
Negotiations are continuing over the purchase of a small corridor of land that would connect Dunedin’s west harbour cycle/pedestrian track with the city. The Dunedin City Council has been negotiating with Port Otago and lessee Z Energy for the strip of land between Wickliffe St and the parallel rail corridor since councillors agreed in June last year to spend $450,000 to fund the project.
Read more
### dunedintv.co.nz March 26, 2014 – 5:44pm
New cycleway proposal presented
A new proposal that would provide separated cycleways – but loses fewer parking spaces – has emerged, as Dunedin looks for ways to curb cyclist fatalities. The plan the New Zealand Transport Agency and Dunedin City Council is calling option 1A was presented this afternoon. And it could be an option that bypasses an angry reaction from those keen to keep parking spots on the one-way system.
Video
### ODT Online Thu, 27 Mar 2014
Another cycle lane option on table
By Rosie Manins
Up to $4.5 million may be spent on a new cycle system in central Dunedin. The Dunedin City Council and New Zealand Transport Agency have developed a third option for a separated cycle lane along the city’s two one-way streets which form part of State Highway 1. The council’s infrastructure services committee will decide on Tuesday whether to push ahead with the project, enabling the NZTA to fund analysis of each option.
Read more
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Very good comments received at ODT Online on this article.
Sent to the ODT today:
I believe these figures from today’s ODT front-page are wrong, and ask for them to be corrected:
“Loss of 86 parks compared with 284 (option1) and 80-85 (option 2)”
The correct figures from “Parking Loss” column in Table 4 in the Council Report are:
193, 391, and 180-185.
You appear to be using the figures from the “Net Parking Loss” column, which seems to be the metered-parking loss.
If a metered-park is removed and a metered-park created in a free parking area, there is still the loss of a park.
Alistair, you are hereby found guilty of numeracy, fog-busting and disambiguation.
These are qualities indicative of Naysayers such as Bev Butler and many other people I respect enormously.
Don’t expect a Chritmas Card from Daaaave.
Ch39 grabbed “the Spokes-man” to offer comment on Option 1A. He admitted NZTA/DCC hadn’t consulted SPOKES on the new option. Hurrah. Maybe the SPOKES’ initial capture of NZTA/DCC ‘consultation’ and the resulting submissions from Others (fsirly disgruntled) actually dented the DCC/NZTA armour.
[video] http://www.dunedintv.co.nz/content/nightly-interview-robert-thompson-0
### ODT Online Fri, 28 Mar 2014
Frederick St development
By Debbie Porteous
A multi-storey development housing parking and businesses is being considered for the Dunedin City Council-owned Frederick St car park site. A report sent to councillors this week reveals council staff have already had discussions with several parties interested, as tenants or developers, in a development on the site. The report discusses three options for a separated cycle lane through the central city, and a parking study done in the area.
Read more
NZTA finding the money, slowly but surely, for the imbecilic separated cycleway(s) on the one-way system.
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### ODT Online Sun, 20 Apr 2014
Positive steps in cycle lane funding
By Debbie Porteous
Funding for the further development of cycle lane options proposed for Dunedin’s one-way system has passed its first hurdle. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) will probably fund cycle lanes on the state highways through the central city. Otago Regional Council transport policy manager Dr Jane Turnbull said the regional land transport committee agreed earlier this month to recommend the council vary the 2012-15 Otago Regional Land Transport Programme (RLTP) by up to $1 million to make the money available for continued work on the project in this funding round.
Read more
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Related Post and Comments:
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
See copy of Jill Guy’s letter to the ODT editor at this thread:
Cyclists:
To echo the words of the late Winston Churchill, “Never in the history of the city of Dunedin has so much been committed by so many, for so few!”
Another quote:
Uncle Remus: “Dere’s dem dats smart an’ dere’s dem dats good.” Smart people get elected to high office. Good people get to see the results. Smart people spend to get adulation, good people just wonder why. Smart people get time as their judge, good people get to see the fools for what they are. Smart people never see their faults, good people just get the picture. Smart people come, and go, good people are always there. We don’t need smart people, we just need good people.
Until Dunedin people learn to (collectively) use and pay for the legal system to stop Dunedin City Council in its tracks, so to speak, we will forever be in obeisance to inept and corrupt councillors and council staff, to our immense cost. After all, a case or three is still vastly cheaper than a stadium or cycleways. Dunedin completely lacks any democratic, well-led and assertive ratepayers and residents association to offer solid defence against improper spending, misuse of funds and serial rorts that impact heavily on the private assets and vulnerabilities of the citizens. And so we will remain as inconsolable, gullable, ripped-off serfs who will never wake up to working justice – having thrown away all rights for natural justice to prevail. I will say, however, this speaks to our lack of street smarts, unity and agency; and our critical blindness to the big picture, argumentation and the power of numbers. Not good! Dumb as all hell. Meek and mild is disinterested.
Cr Hilary Calvert gets to the meat at ODT Online.
YES we want the FULL information. And the chair and deputy chair of Finance in this picture. Go, Hilary!
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Cycle lane funding
Submitted by H Calvert on Sun, 20/04/2014 – 9:12am.
Great to see NZTA on board to continue this project, especially now there is a compromise proposal which should help parking issues.
It is a concern however that we have now returned to the mistaken idea that the ‘full cost of the proposed cycle ways is $4.5 million. This is simply wrong. There will be significant costs as yet unknown to the ratepayer, not the least of which will be around parking.
Confounding this, Council has decided to leave the finance committee chair off the group looking into the business case on the basis that finance is irrelevant to the business case.
I will keep asking questions on behalf of ratepayers who want true information available and to challenge Council to make decisions based on as much knowledge as possible.
[ends]
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Related Post and Comments:
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
### ODT Online Wed, 23 Apr 2014
School angry over walkway delay
By John Lewis
The Broad Bay School community is frustrated and angry the Dunedin City Council may be about to do a U-turn on road-widening work in the area. Broad Bay School board of trustees chairman Sean Hogan said there had been a promise from the council since 2005 that the Portobello road improvement – a walkway and a protected cycle path – would be built in the next 12 months.
Read more
• ‘Near misses’ for Portobello pupils
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### ODT Online Wed, 23 Apr 2014
Reclamation for cycleway
By Chris Morris
A chunk of Otago Harbour will be reclaimed, and Dunedin’s railway line shunted sideways, when the next stage of a walking and cycling pathway to Port Chalmers is built. Supporters of the project are remaining upbeat, despite the multimillion-dollar extension of the shared pathway from St Leonards to Port Chalmers being years from completion.
Read more
### ODT Online Tue, 15 Jul 2014
Harbourside path extension boost
By Debbie Porteous
Funding has been approved to design the multimillion-dollar extension of the West Harbour shared pathway from St Leonards to Port Chalmers, with construction possibly to start within the next four years. The NZTA previously estimated the work, involving significant land reclamation, to be worth about $6 million to $7 million.
Read more
### ODT Online Wed, 16 Jul 2014
Opinion
Cycleway answers need right question
By Hilary Calvert
A major governance role of councillors is to grapple with the problems and dreams of the residents of Dunedin. On the shared use of the road, the council should have spent whatever time it needed to get to the bottom of the challenges and opportunities of improving transport and recreational use of roads around town. But encouraged by the idea the New Zealand Transport Authority would fund part of a cycleways project, we let the ”problem” be defined without a lot of thought, and certainly no in-depth discussion at council on such issues as parking, where the trucks will go or what the cycling dream actually is. […] Somehow if we could only make it difficult enough for cars, and have better and safer places for cycling, we would become world famous for our bike-friendly amenities. The unspoken dream we seem to be working with is the idea that if we build it they will come. Now the wheels are falling off, sometimes literally.
Read more
I’m glad I voted for Hilary Calvert and Lee Vandervis, at least they both ended up as councillors and have kept on providing the too-rare nuggets of sense that come from that collection of “worthies”. It’s refreshing to see evidence of healthy, toned braincells at work.
Yesterday, Cr Jinters MacDervish on FacePalm – sorry, FB:
Councillor Jinty MacTavish Politician (ROFLMAO)
21 hours ago · Edited
https://www.facebook.com/crjintymactavish
[begins]
Cr. Wilson has offered a response to Cr. Calvert’s ill-informed ODT op ed re: the DCC and cycleways over at https://www.facebook.com/kate.wilson.547/posts/823234034377549. I was going to write my own response but given I’m in transit and this covers most of what I would have said, I recommend you check it out instead!
The only comment I would add is in relation to this ridiculous statement in Cr. Calvert’s original piece: “But encouraged by the idea the New Zealand Transport Authority would fund part of a cycleways project, we let the ”problem” be defined without a lot of thought, and certainly no in-depth discussion at council on such issues as parking, where the trucks will go or what the cycling dream actually is.”
I really wonder why it should be necessary for me to remind a fellow councillor
– that the ‘problem’ was quite clearly demonstrated by two tragic fatalities over the space of 12 months
– that Council asked NZTA to urgently look into the issue and possible solutions, because of those fatalities and because they are the lead authority for the state highway system (not because of some funding pool that might be available)
– that NZTA considered multiple alternative routes during the assessment process, and came back with recommendations that cycleways along the one-way pair were the best solution
– that we have a strategic cycle network that we we have consulted on, adopted and are implementing (including more extensive, targeted consultation with affected communities) which outlines the high level ‘cycling dream’ is,
– that this network is underpinned by a democratically developed Integrated Transport Strategy that prioritises segregated cycle facilities on main routes where possible for reasons of safety and liveability, whilst also outlining the key strategic network plans for freight over the next 30 years.
Cr. Calvert finishes her op ed by saying ‘councillors must spend more time at the beginning, where 95% of the solution comes from.’
Perhaps Cr. Calvert could start by having a good look at our Integrated Transport Strategy, and our Strategy Cycle Network, and talk to staff about the months of research and data collection that have gone into the ‘problem definition’ end of those pieces of work, before making such sweeping generalisations about the quality of our decision-making.
(For those who haven’t seen Cr. Calvert’s op ed, it’s over at http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/309474/cycleway-answers-need-right-question).
[ends]
52 people like this.
Comments:
Jennie Upton Well said!
Like · Reply · 41 minutes ago
Laura Gourley Jeannette, some reading for you about cycleways
Like · Reply · 10 hours ago
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Share:
Councillor Aaron Hawkins
10 hrs
I commend to you responses from two of my colleagues, who have years on me in terms of their involvement in making cycling safe in Dunedin, to the dismissive and divisive rant of a third. To simply write off the time, energy and expertise of Councillors, DCC staff, academics and (most importantly) the thousands of local people who have made themselves available to be part of this process is as rude as it is wrong.
Cr Katie Did at FB in full with comments from the groupies!
Kate Wilson University of Otago
23 hrs · Edited
https://www.facebook.com/kate.wilson
[begins]
This is a very unfortunate statement of misfacts. I have worked with Hilary on cycleways – in fact on one of the best cycleway project in NZ. Hilary has been a fantastic advocate and supporter of the Otago Central Rail Trail as a founding Trustee. That trail took substantial planning, a great deal of grief – where both DCC and CODC did not support it, where a previous Minister of Tourism ridiculed the concept and where despite negativity from MPs, from farmers and local community people, people with vision – DOC staff and the original Trustees, the idea was pursued. And thank goodness for that. It has been an economic driver to rural Otago well above anyones initial expectations. Why am i disappointed with Hilary’s comments here? Because while she has been a Councillor since October 2013, she seems to have missed, and has failed to check, that cycling networks, safe cycling, and some awful fatalities have driven work over the last 4 years to change how we provide our residents choice of both recreational and commuter cycling. Roads are provided for access – not for just cars but for people. They are not actually required to provide for parking. The fact that sometimes they do is a bonus. As we who live in rural areas are well aware, they rarely provide for parking.
The problem in Dunedin is that in the last 40 years we have designed Dunedin only for those able to access and able to drive cars. We have failed to provide for other modes and now we are having to retrofit and place the city back in balance. This has been asked for by a huge number of submitters.Not only have we failed to provide for cyclists and other modes, we have made travel for all modes unsafe. An accident rarely involves cyclist on cyclist. It usually involves a car driver or a truck driver. They are also victims of the cities failure to plan for everyone. While the results are less for car and truck drivers, I have no doubts there have long term consequences.
Hilary is completely incorrect to suggest we are chasing NZTA funding – we specifically asked for them to research with our staff all options on and off the State Highway system. They did so. They came back with the SH being the best alignment. This is not that surprising – self powered cyclists and pedestrians tend to want to go the shortest most efficient route – but now car drivers think that cyclists should meander away from the direct route, not infringe on their car parking and basically be on the periphery. That just seems like an absolute recipe for a waste of funding.
The rail trail did not try to be like anything else – it was an opportunity waiting to be captured and a landscape so special that deserved sharing. Dunedin is no different. While we can take comfort in other cities experiences giving us some surety in the process, what we share with Seattle and Vancouver has nothing to do with cycling per se, but a job market that is attractive to very discerning mobile employees who go where the quality of life, including access to good cycleways, is good.
Cycleway provision can be equated to economic development – along the rail trail and in cities throughout the world. I know Dunedin is not great at change – but as a child I did ride in Dunedin – it was a safe place then – and it can be great city to ride in – the fact that planners have failed to keep it so is regrettable, but does not mean that it is a problem not needing to be rectified. I appreciate there is still some discussion to be had – yes some hard questions to be asked in bedding down the final design – that is why we have a commitment to a group of Councillors to do that work, but sorry, safety of all is not something that should be compromised by politics.
[ends]
14 people like this.
Comments:
Paul Le Comte Thanks for these comments Kate.
This study is pretty impressive http://www.americabikes.org/nyc_study_finds_protected…
1 · 22 hr
Kate Wilson Thanks Paul – what i love about Dunedin is that it is a city where people still walk along the street – usually without a handheld devise and look people in the eye with the expectation of seeing someone they know and even if they dont saying hello – a nice p[art of living in a smaller community friendly city. The same is true if you ride a bike – or an open car. But as soon as you sit in a car – something happens – we remove ourselves from being part of the street – and become something else – it is so not about engaging or being part of the very thing that the street is there to help create. I think infrastructure is not a word that I like for streets – fine for water and sewage – but for me streets are very much part of community building too
1 · 22 hrs
Steve Walker 100% on it Kate… and thanks for being brave enough to write this…. I like many people was very saddened & surprised to read Hilary’s ODT article. Parking is a luxury in most of the world’s cities and whether we like it or not a multimodal mix of commuting options will be the modus operandi for all forward thinking cities of the future….. I will be in Rome this time next week, and it most certainly wasn’t built in a day!!!!
2 · 22 hrs
Shane Montague-Gallagher Well said Kate!
1 · 21 hrs
Grant McLean Well said, I’d just simply not like to be on the other side of a debate with you! Good thing we agree
1 · 21 hrs
Go Hilary – get up their cranky little noses.
What you said is bang on.
Lots of people talk about how great cycling is, but very few people are actually doing it. On my commute today, I did not see one other cyclist, morning or evening, or lunch-time in the City.
Alistair, you have won the prize – better than Big Wednesday!
$47M for just you, the only cyclist. You must be thrilled!
Kate Wilson in her long diatribe demonstrates just how ‘muddle headed’ she is on the ‘cycleways’ subject.
First, to compare what is being done here in Dunedin with the Otago Central Rail Trail is plain ridiculous. In the next breath she laments the multiple fatalities and uses that as a reason for the extensive research carried out by council over the last four years.
Clearly, there are two factions here, the cycle enthusiasts (the whole 10% ) and the ambivalent (90%). The former have serious advocates in Mayor Dave Cull, Cr Jinty MacTavish. Moderately so in Kate Wilson from Middlemarch (beneficiary of the OCRT, who I somehow can’t envisage cycling along Cumberland St), Cr Hawkins, and that’s about it.
The rest, including the 90%, are probably only concerned with the seemingly obvious stupidity of putting the lanes on SH1. If it had been resolved that the lanes should be either off street altogether (as the Dunedin Port Chalmers lane is) or on quiet, less intense streets, then the 90% would be amenable. But to invite catastrophes as normal, interfere with the private motorists both driving and parking, is unnecessary and causing angst.
To say widespread consultation was carried out is spurious, just ask the residents of St Clair and South Dunedin. Because the NZTA wankers will fund the SH1 option doesn’t make it fool-proof. On the contrary. To use the ploy that cyclists want to go the shortest route to their destination sort of throws out the safety angle which keeps getting pushed. Surely it is better both for their exercise to take a slightly longer route and arrive alive. Melodramatic? Well tell that to the families of the the two doctors, one at Great King St, one in Cumberland St in the hospital precinct, and the lady in Castle St at the Fire Station corner. Not to mention the trauma to the other parties, two motorists opening their parked vehicles door and three heavy truck drivers.
I think Cr Hilary Calvert is quite correct in saying that perhaps the real question wasn’t addressed at the outset, but with a degree of obstinate stubborn attitudes the day was carried.
Again, Cr Wilson brought up the world trend, citing Vancouver and Seattle. Has she been there or even Google Earthed them? If so she would see in a glance that both are generally as flat as a ‘goose’s instep’ as indeed is Invercargill and Christchurch, both in their time, busy cycling cities. Dunedin has never been a busy cycling city, as its geography would explain. So the dream of teeming cyclists flooding the streets of Dunedin is just that, a dream.
Never mind, as the saying goes, “They’re bloody well going to have it even if it kills them.”
Kate Wilson stated that riding a bike was safer in her childhood.
There are a number of good reasons for this.
1. There were hardly any traffic lights
2. There was almost exactly the same population and most had a car
3. Smart parents advised their kids to NOT ride their bikes on state highways, an incredibly stupid act.
Because there were no traffic lights, drivers had to watch the road, drive responsibly, keep an eye out for cars, pedestrians and cyclists and did not have to hurry to get home for lunch or after work.
We could have saved $47 million plus from ratepayers and taxpayers had we merely eradicated most traffic lights and educated drivers to watch the road.
Who do I hate more than Jonkey PM ?
FOE/FAUX the disgusting Jinters
The worst thing about today’s lead feature (pages 41-42) in the ODT Magazine section is that the smug pearl-wearing protagonist attended my alma mater. Jesus Christ Almighty.
I’m glad reporter Bruce Munro talked to friends and foes. He can phone me anytime for a frank no-holes-barred opinion of Ms Gum Drops Crap Artist MacJaundiced.
Piss off, Jinters.
ODT, I want my money back.
http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/312740/voice-change
Beyond her wildest dreams…
### ODT Online Mon, 18 Aug 2014
Govt promises $100m for cycleways
NZ Herald
The Government is muscling in on Green Party turf by promising an extra $100 million over four years for urban cycleways. Its initiative has been announced from the top today by Prime Minister John Key, who early in 2009 allocated $50 million – since topped up by a further $8m – towards a national cycleway being built in regional sections, to create jobs and assist economic development.
Read more
I’m with Cars on the issue of traffic lights. New Zealand must have cornered the world market on traffic lights and all it has achieved is to make drivers more lazy and less attentive. I lived in a Western European city which was of a similar size to Dunedin. There were maybe 4 sets of traffic lights covering the entire city. When a driver approached an intersection they took on the responsibility for themselves and for others in the vicinity. They slowed down, they looked, they assessed the situation. Personal responsibility. At every intersection. When a traffic light turns green, we drive forward automatically. We take zero responsibility. We assume that the intersection is safe to enter and that nothing unexpected is going to happen. There are almost no vehicle related accidents in residential areas. And no traffic lights.
Phil – It’s worse than that. They are control freaks. The recent lights at Highgate are a joke – I would guess that about 90% of the time they are green for traffic because there ain’t no pedestrians in sight. $100,000 spent on control freakery. They are besotted with the ‘precautionary principle’ and to hell with the cost.
I read recently of a town in England where the traffic had become a nightmare of lights controlling the thoroughfares, which in large part predated the motor car era. The engineer decided that it was more likely that the human drivers could better sort the problems if left to their own intelligence. It was recommended by the council that the lights simply be turned off. Result; after a very short time chaos disappeared and traffic flowed easily.More importantly, the accident rate reduced dramatically. Bureaucrats of course don’t like the thought of people have the freedom to think for themselves. It takes away power.
Mr Woodlouse… Ch39 video on the sordid last minute cycleway vote catcher:
http://www.dunedintv.co.nz/content/governments-urban-cycleways-promise-benefits-dunedin
Councillors visited the tunnel the other day led by Cr Katydid (see photo in the tree edition)………………. (ODT) “owner of the land at the Wingatui end of the 158m Chain Hills tunnel had decided not to allow open access”.
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### ODT Online Sun, 5 Oct 2014
One door closes, but hope remains
A project to create a cycle trail through old train tunnels between Dunedin and Mosgiel has just been set back once more because of a lack of funds. However, Dan Hutchinson discovers the freight train of government funding could be just around the corner. A light at the end of the old Chain Hills Tunnel has turned out to be a closed iron gate for a trust seeking to turn a piece of history into a cycle link between Dunedin and Mosgiel.
Read more
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Oh wait, Daaave’s got OUR cheque book out again:
“Funding had been the big problem for the project but there was growing enthusiasm from the Dunedin City Council, New Zealand Transport Agency and the Government, which recently announced a $100 million national fund for such projects.” (ODT)
Quaintly enough, this is one cycle “lane” that would be of enormous benefit to cyclists, the ones who use cycles for everyday commuting as well as recreational & tourist cyclists. And it wouldn’t be an additional pain in the bum for drivers on the same road, and those trying to enter/exit their own driveways. No wonder everywhere else has been cyclified, no matter how seldom used or ill-conceived, this was an idea from non-DCC, non-councillors, pre-dating the rise to (as yet mortal) glory of Saint Sustainability and the SusTainAngel.
Hype, I think you’re right. Just not sure if the landowner not granting access at one end isn’t deliberately hanging out for big DCC dollars to compensate… Sounds a bit Monopoly!
### dunedintv.co.nz October 21, 2014 – 5:46pm
Mosgiel to Dunedin cycle tunnel one step closer to reality
Cycling and walking between Mosgiel and central Dunedin via a tunnel is one step closer to reality. Work began a few weeks ago on the first stage of the Chain Hills side of a tunnel trail project. And trust members are confident there will be light at the end of some of the city’s fantastic Victorian infrastructure.
Video
Mon, 28 Nov 2016
ODT: Light at end of the tunnel?
Hundreds of people navigated mud and darkness walking through a tunnel from Wingatui to Dunedin on Saturday. Members of a trust set up to establish a cycle trail between Wingatui and Dunedin opened the Chain Hills Tunnel to the public to raise funds for the project which has been in the works for about 10 years. Cont/
Classic BS – more Jim Harland manipulations?
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### ODT Online Fri, 24 Oct 2014
Recognition for city cycle plans
By Debbie Porteous
Dunedin’s recent and planned cycling projects are being lauded as inspirational and ground-breaking and are in the running for national recognition. The New Zealand Transport Agency’s cycle friendly awards will be announced at the 2Walk and Cycle conference in Nelson on Wednesday.
Read more
Wait till the next fatality on the ‘separated cycle lane’ on State Highway 1 through the city. That’s when we’ll see the real ‘ground breaking’ at the cemetery.
$47 million cycle network for Dunedin’s 1% – paid for by ratepayers, many of whom can’t afford a bike or the sheer inconvenience of its use.
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### ODT Online Thu, 30 Oct 2014
City’s cycle-friendly commitment recognised
Dunedin has pedalled away with a national award at a ceremony recognising New Zealand’s champions for walking and cycling. Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull and city councillors won the award for cycle-friendly commitment by a public organisation.
Read more
You’d have to wonder just how long it will be before this country’s obsession with cycles will have run its course? I guess it will take a season or three of ‘crappy’ weather, arriving at destinations wet and bedraggled, with ‘bum callouses’, until the novelty wears off and it will revert to the really dedicated, who have actually always been there, before the $millions were spent. Not really much different to all the others, like ‘Rubik’s Cube’, mini skirts (in about their third incarnation), roller skates, and currently ‘skate boards’. Nothing new about any of that. Gone on since man got up on his hind legs.
$47 million for a Rubik’s Cube?
Or a Hula Hoop?
When will there be an award for wasting other people’s money.
Delta will get the Diamond bike
The DCC will get the Gold bike
The citizens will get the bill.
An award for the most cycle friendly council!
Who is paying for the soirée in Nelson?
You that’s who!
SEEMS DOABLE – great project
More on the rail tunnel cycleway proposal mentioned above on this thread:
Tue, 11 Apr 2017
ODT: Tunnel sponsor sought
By Chris Morris
The trust pushing to reopen the Chain Hills tunnel to walkers and cyclists hopes a naming rights sponsor will help push its fundraising drive over the line. The Dunedin Tunnels Trail Trust has until April 27 to raise $400,000 in loans and $150,000 in donations to buy land around the tunnel and secure access to it. Cont/
Unlike the retro-fitted cycle lanes squished into SH1 beside local and through traffic, this is sensible and likely to get a lot of use.
Yes indeedy. One wonders how much maintenance the bridges in the Taieri Gorge have seen in the last 25 years, and how long it will be before the City is told that an inspection has revealed that 25 mil. or so will have to be spent to keep the trains running up the Gorge.
That kind of cash is hard to come by. Have you noticed how Taieri Gorge Railways has been quietly rebranded as ‘Dunedin Railways’, with adverts in place and carriage painting going on. The posters now show ‘Dunedin Railways” with underneath it two equally billed routes. the Taieri Gorge (two destinations) and the Seasider (3 routes).
The Seasider shares tracks (and costs) with Kiwi Rail, and if I were to recommend a choice of the two routes, I would always recommend the Seasider.
Maybe perhaps somebody is thinking ahead here to the day when the fully DCC owned bridges in the Gorge can no longer take the weight of a locomotive and carriages. If the Seasider has been fully developed by that stage it is not a disaster but an opportunity. The Taieri Gorge rail route quietly disappears, and the Seasider takes the load. My suspicion is that this cost saving would make Dunedin Railways mightily more profitable.
In the gorge and up to Middlemarch the track and bridges will still be able to take bikes for a long while. So after the rails have been lifted to the Fonterra Facility in Mosgiel, the Otago Rail Trail can be run along the empty track bed to a turn off just before this point, and then along Gorden Road and onto the the rail route into Dunedin via the two empty tunnels. Just think for a moment what the economic implications of that are.
However, we absolutely need those two tunnels to make this happen – a great deal more than we need an extra swimming pool, and that observation particularly applies to Mosgiel, which would benefit mightily from such an initiative.
Don’t hold your breath on the Seasider being a success for Dunedin Railways, Rob. KiwiRail are now eyeing up this route from Christchurch to Invercargill for tourism now that the Christchurch to Kaikora rail is out of action. KiwiRail hold the full hand on this one, as it is their track. Dunedin Rail will have to live of the scraps.
I take your point, but I will believe a regular wholly owned KiwiRail passenger service in this area when I see it. There appears to be little appetite in KiwiRail for aggressive innovation of any type. The Dunedin to Palmerston run is the jewel in the crown of the Ch Ch to Invercargill route – most of which is pretty dull especially south of Ch Ch. Hopefully some form of cooperation can be sorted.
Cooperation between Owner of essential rails, and supplicant trying to make something of an asset that without rails is a liability?
Yeah, that’ll be a favourable deal for Dunedin!
D O N O R S ● S O U G H T
CHAIN HILLS TUNNEL – CYCLEWAY
Sat, 22 April 2017
ODT: Light at the end of this tunnel for city trust
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council has given a cash injection to the trust pushing to reopen the Chain Hills tunnel to walkers and cyclists. Dunedin Tunnels Trust chairman Gerard Hyland said the council had agreed to donate $57,000 to the project, pushing the trust close to its goal with less than a week to go until deadline day. The money came from an earlier project fund, established by the council years ago, to investigate the project’s feasibility, he said. “Putting that into the coffers means we are fairly close to [our goal]. It does get us very close to the line. One last push in this last week . . . means we are there.” The trust announced in February it had a deal to buy the property controlling access to the Chain Hills rail tunnel, but only if it could raise $550,000 in cash and loans by April 27. Cont/
█ The trust’s fundraising total [is] at $512,000, but Mr Hyland said just $10,000 more was needed to confirm the purchase of the [access] property.
Exciting.
At Facebook:
At Facebook:
Mon, 1 May 2017
ODT: Tunnel cycleway success
By David Loughrey
Dunedin is one step closer to being joined to the Otago Central Rail Trail and the national cycleway network in what could give the city a major tourism boost. The trust raising money for a cycleway through the old Chain Hills tunnel near Mosgiel has been successful in its efforts, after raising more than $500,000 in two months. The trust says the tunnel should be open to cyclists before long. Just the old Caversham tunnel is still to go, to connect the city to Mosgiel, then by rail to Middlemarch and the rest of the South Island trails. Cont/
Love this comment at the Facebook post:
Ani Persson Hooray, a cycleway that will be used, will add value and convenience! Need we mention that it was an initiative of cyclists, not planned by DCC “professional” planners?
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