Cycle option unsafe: AA

The Automobile Association has waded into the debate about the layout of the peninsula cycleway on Portobello Rd, saying a proposal backed by cyclists would be unsafe for motorists.

AA Otago District Council deputy chairman Alan Race said while the Dunedin City Council's preferred option was a compromise, the road had a variety of users who needed to be catered for.

Mr Race was responding to Spokes Dunedin chairman Robert Thompson, who recently criticised a council move to back a design with a shared cycle/walkway and a 1.2m shoulder on the road for road cyclists.

Spokes preferred an earlier design with a separate walking space, cycle lanes and lanes for vehicles.

The organisation was disappointed the council's preferred layout had changed.

Mr Race said he was pleased the city revisited the cycleway issue after the issues with the South Dunedin cycleway, something he described as ''a brave move''.

He said the peninsula cycleway, part of a planned route that would extend all the way round the harbour, would be ''a fantastic facility''.

But the option two layout ''doesn't meet the requirements of all road users''.

''It doesn't address the narrow traffic lane width.''

The AA had independent traffic engineers look at the option after Dr Thompson raised the issue.

The advice it received was the minimum road width if a new road was built would have to be wider than the 3m shown in option two.

The road with the shoulders shown in option one ''would be fine''.

Mr Race said one of the problems on the road was larger vehicles like buses or camper vans, which were using the road more recently because of the tourist and cruise ship boom, had to cross the centre line to negotiate some parts of the road.

''That's a dangerous manoeuvre.''

AA members had also reported damaged tyres from hitting the concrete blocks that separate the roadway and cycle/walkway on narrower parts of the road.

Because there was a major expansion of the road, it was ''pretty sensible'' for the council to be addressing those traffic issues, as well as providing a facility for pedestrians and cyclists.

''The feedback that we've had is that this plan [option two] would have difficulty passing a safety audit.''

Option one was a design that accommodated all users, ''providing sufficient shoulder for larger vehicles to still negotiate, without having to cross centre lines.''

Mr Race said road cyclists would not use cycle lanes, but would use the road anyway.

If cyclists rode on the 1.2m shoulder area, at least traffic would be able to pass them safely, which was not possible at the moment in many spots.

''We don't want any of our members being in a situation where they've knocked a cyclist off their bike.''

Mr Race said the shared path from the Otago Yacht Club to St Leonards had been hailed as a great success, and the community was calling for it to be extended to Port Chalmers.

But its layout was exactly the council's preferred option.

He did not understand why it was a great idea on the west side of the harbour, but not on the east.

david.loughrey@odt.co.nz