Cycleway south now usable

Cyclists use the new southbound cycleway on Cumberland St yesterday afternoon. PHOTO: PETER...
Cyclists use the new southbound cycleway on Cumberland St yesterday afternoon. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
The majority of Dunedin's new southbound Cumberland St cycleway is now painted and is "operationally" finished, the NZ Transport Agency says.

The agency's projects team manager, Simon Underwood, said some higher-wear areas would need to be coated with a different type of paint but he did not know when that work would be completed.

It was working on the northbound Great King St cycleway at the same time, he said.

Concrete traffic islands still needed to be cemented down, and one of the last considerations would be the planting of trees.

The new cycleways heading north and south along Dunedin's one-way street system have come in for criticism from cyclists, who have complained about them being too narrow and said cars and pedestrians often block cyclists' paths.

However, other cyclists have said they make them feel safer while travelling through the centre of the city.

Mr Underwood was also aware some cyclists were concerned about the green paint becoming slippery in winter, but said the paint met NZTA's "typical skid resistance requirement".

Comments

"cyclists, who have complained about them being too narrow", be thankful you have them!.

Too narrow is worse than nothing because it's dangerous. Re paint on the road, many cyclists avoid just the normal white paint road marking because it can be slippery. However, most of this cycleway surface is painted. I wonder if the 'paint slipperiness' standard Mr Underwood refers to is a standard specifically for bicycles or whether it is one for traffic in general and so mostly four-wheeled vehicles with large, wide tyres. Bike tyres are narrow and have little contact with the road surface and so are much more vulnerable to slippery surfaces. Perhaps ODT could ask Mr Underwood about this.

 

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