We hope you are doing well, in these strange times and that you and your whānau are staying safe.

For those with more time on their hands, we wanted to give an update and mention a few productive things we can do from the safety of our bubbles to keep pushing for a climate-resilient Tāmaki Makaurau. Being stuck at home need not stop us from having our say! Read more about how you can submit on the Northern Pathway and Lake Rd cycleways.

NZTA Northern Pathway submission - submit here

It's nothing new that Generation Zero has been campaigning for a walking and cycling link between the central city and the North Shore to provide a climate-friendly transport alternative. In fact, in 2015 all of you helped us get 11,500 submissions on Skypath!

The name might have changed multiple times since then - Skypath and Seapath to Auckland Harbour Bridge Shared Path to the current Northern Pathway - but our goal remains the same. NZTA have feedback open (until this Sunday) on the latest stage of the Northern Pathway’s design.

It is important we keep pushing for good-quality, future-oriented design. From our submission we have added below our key points to help form your submission. The NZTA feedback survey can be accessed here. Here are our key points if you want to use them for your submission!

It is exciting to see the latest developments in realising our dream of a link between the central city and the North Shore
We recognise it will have a large range of users (sight-seers, commuters, exercisers, children) and modes (bikes, scooters, walkers, mobility users etc.). Due to this, it is disappointing that it is a shared path rather than a segregated cycling and walking one.
It is great to hear that NZTA are considering allowing 24/7 access to the Northern Pathway, as opposed to shitting it from 10pm to 6am each night
Westhaven connection: we support the ramp over other previous options (elevators, stairs, etc.). The slow zone is a good addition and we praise the use of Māori artwork as a tohu whenua to alert users to slow down.
Princes St connection: we welcome the project’s plan to work with mana whenua and the community when planting new pōhutukawa trees.
Onewa Road interchange: there are too many changes in altitude of the path, creating large slopes and a potentially dangerous connection with Onewa Rd (a T-intersection at bottom of the hill). For the 60m section after the Onewa Rd on-ramp where the path narrows to 2.5m wide, space should be taken from the motorway to keep the path a consistent width.
Esmonde Drive: an underground crossing from the Esmonde off-ramp to Akoranga Drive’s northern side would be much safer and smoother than the current plan (which may require two separate sets of traffic lights to fully cross the road). A footpath on Akoranga Drive’s southern side to Warehouse Way should also be investigated.

Auckland Transport Lake Road submission - submit here

Another project open for feedback is the proposed Lake Rd improvements (including Bayswater Ave and Esmonde Rd), that connect Devonport with the rest of the North Shore and Auckland.

Submissions close on Sunday 26th April and Auckland Transport are asking our thoughts on their proposal for improved cycling and public transport infrastructure. While we are overall supportive of improvements, we want Auckland Transport to be more ambitious in Lake Road’s re-design and show that there is public support for reallocating street space. Here are our key points that you can use for your own submission.

We support AT integrating cycling and walking infrastructure with the schools within the scope of the project.
AT has made the right choice in proposing raised tables for every side street along Lake Road. These tables must have clearly marked pedestrian crossings
Pedestrian and cycling infrastructure should be segregated rather than having shared paths in some areas.
All cycleways must go on the inside of bus stops and on-street car parking, to improve safety with passing and turning traffic, opening car doors, and buses.
The bus lane on Esmonde Road must be retained (not converted into a transit lane). As cycling and walking becomes more attractive, the stress on the general traffic lanes will lessen, meaning the bus lane can stay unchanged.
To improve safety of the Lake Road intersection with Bardia/Winscombe, the crossing should be changed to a Barnes Dance pattern, with a raised table installed to cover the entire intersection, as there is high foot and cycling traffic with the nearby schools.
Install marked and raised-table pedestrian crossings for all three legs of the Albert/Lake Road roundabout, and add segregated bike lanes.

Just yesterday there were further announcements about employing tactical urbanism techniques to temporarily widen footpaths and create cycle lanes. We are excited to see walking and cycling safety be prioritised in our recovery!