What Were the Changes? » Cycling
Making cycling easier and safer for people in Māngere
Cycling can be a fun and cheap way of getting around. It is also a great way to get fit. For children, cycling to school can be a great option because it gives them independence and helps their fitness, and to develop their brains.
Some of the infrastructure changes in the Te Ara Mua – Future Streets project were designed to make cycling an easier and safer transport option for people in Māngere. These cycling improvements were made so that people in Māngere could get around their suburb more easily by bike if they want to.
It also means that people can more easily travel by bike to destinations outside Māngere and onto other parts of Auckland’s cycle network. Auckland Transport is still working to improve the cycle network in Auckland and there are plans to better link Māngere with the Airport, Māngere Bridge, and Middlemore.
We acknowledge that even with the bike network in place, there are reasons why some people in Māngere won’t use the bike lanes. These include access issues, not being able to ride, and cultural reasons. However, there are also some really great initiatives in Māngere to help give people access to bikes and to teach them to ride. Check them out here.
Bike Lanes
We know that there are a lot of benefits associated with cycling. However, one big problem with cycling is that people often don’t feel safe riding near cars. Therefore, to encourage people to ride more around the community, to the shops, and to school – and to feel safe doing it – separated bike lanes were installed on Mascot Avenue, Orly Avenue, Thomas Road, Bader Drive, and Friesian Drive. In addition, painted cycle lanes were put on Friesian Drive.
Internationally, cycle lanes with physical barriers to seperate traffic and people on bikes are seen as ‘best practice’. The concrete barriers used in Māngere were the same as those used in other places in Auckland. They are seen as an effective way of adding a seperated cycle lane onto an existing street. They are wide and well separated from the traffic, making them very safe to use.
Some issues with the bike lanes have been identified by the community, and this includes a loss of parking. To read more about these issues, please click here.
Safe cycling roundabout
A location that can be scary for people riding bikes is roundabouts. They require you stop and start, meaning you can get a bit wobbly, and become a lot slower than the traffic. To make access safer for people using bikes, the Orly Avenue roundabout had some changes made to it. In addition to the raised zebra crossings for pedestrians, bike lanes were painted onto the raised platform. This means that people on bikes don’t have to mix with traffic on the road as they go through the roundabout. They also have priority when moving around the roundabout. Confident people on bikes can still use the road if they prefer.
Bike lane behind bus stop
One of the most scary things when you are riding a bike is interactions with buses. Often, when a bus has stopped at a bus stop, the person riding the bike has to pull into the traffic lane to go around them, only to be overtaken again by the bus later on. This can be scary for the person riding the bike and the person driving the bus.
To try and remove this problem on Mascot Avenue, a new design of a bus stop was tested as part of Te Ara Mua – Future Streets. The idea was to bring the bike lane onto the footpath, behind the bus stop, and then back onto the road. From all accounts so far, it appears to be working well.
Traffic Calming
On Imrie Avenue, a series of Traffic Calming features were built. These included speed bumps, chicanes, and kerb build outs. During the design process it was determined that the Traffic Calming would sufficiently reduce vehicle speeds on this road and therefore no cycle-specific infrastructure was installed.
Community Trail
The Community Trail was built as part of Te Ara Mua – Future Streets. It is a 2km loop that goes along Mascot Avenue, Pershore Place, Windrush Reserve, Windrush Close, through the Waddon Walkway, and along the edge of the Town Centre car park. To see a map of where it goes, click here.
The path is 3m wide, meaning that people can easily and comfortably share the space for walking and cycling.