Cycle lane grace period needed, Spokes says

A cyclist takes a detour to avoid a four-wheel-drive vehicle parked in the southbound cycle lane...
A cyclist takes a detour to avoid a four-wheel-drive vehicle parked in the southbound cycle lane in Cumberland St yesterday. PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN
Everyone should be given a chance to familiarise themselves with Dunedin’s new cycleways before any enforcement is needed, a cycling advocate says.

People continue to park over sections of the newly installed cycle lanes heading both south and north on State Highway 1.

Cyclists using the southbound path in Cumberland St yesterday were seen by Otago Daily Times staff swerving out on to the road to avoid parked vehicles.

The Dunedin City Council is delegated to enforce parking bylaws along the state highway on behalf of the NZ Transport Agency.

Spokes Dunedin chairman Jon Dean said he was aware of some ‘‘teething’’ issues with the cycleway project but that just highlighted the work was not finished.

Mr Dean did not anticipate the issues would continue once the cycle lanes were completed; also people needed time to get used to the changes.

‘‘I think it will sort itself out, but it will take a little while until everyone, cyclists included, are used to it.’’

If people continued to park in the cycleway after the project was completed, then the council had to be tougher and increase its enforcement, he said.

A council spokesman said the new cycle lanes were monitored by enforcement officers.

The council was not able to provide any statistics on the number of enforcement notices issued to motorists who had parked on the new cycle lanes yesterday.

The timeline for completion of the one-way cycle lane project is September.

tim.miller@odt.co.nz

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The cycle lanes are complete and utter madness,and the people responsible should be locked up in a secure facility.

Indeed. Not even in Christchurch have they been daft enough to put cycle lanes on a state highway.

Yep and who signed off on it not wasting Rate payers coin but Tax payers coin

My question is...Why do the concrete barriers have to be so wide?

It's a no-brainer that Dunedin roads are narrow. So why take up more space with low (hard to see) concrete blocks that themselves take up the width of a bike!

Surely a better way would be taller, narrower barriers? Or am I missing something?

I'll bet that the ODT photographer had to be patient waiting for a cyclist to ride through the area for this shot. All that expense for an extremely limited number of cyclists. We have a huge number of road deaths and increasing because we have poorly designed roads. The UK has great roads and about 2.9 deaths per 100,000 people and NZ has 8.5 deaths and yet we insist on spending mega dollars on cycle ways for a minute number of users whom most are irresponsible and should not be given the privilege of riding on our roads.

The concrete barriers are a stupid addition, much too wide. There is an "island" in the middle of North Road that is hardly used, I have seen people come out of the toilets and walk down the road then cross directly over to Baldwin Street without using the "island".
The humps on Harbour Tce are another example, people drive around them and the road condition is appalling.
If a fraction of the millions spent on the cycle ways was actually spent on the road surface instead of in some "consultants" pockets and patch up jobs then we would all be happy. Madness.

A rubbish truck has to completely block a lane on cars coming in from the North, watch the crashes soar on those days.

Rego plate = easy ticket = easy money for DCC ...
Black Bum on Bike = ?
Time to bring branding back (hot iron - not new advertising) ... the bike could be anyones and no identification.
We really need a law that requires cyclists to be microchipped and provide a DNA sample ... just in case the vehicle breaks the microchip.

In the picture where the green paint ends should be a broken concrete barrier to protect cyclists, in-between the white painted line (near the cyclist) and where I said a concrete barrier should be is where cars should park, not rocket science.

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