Capital Conversation: The case for cycle lanes in Wellington

Friday, 20 September 2024

The Thorndon Quay Hutt Road Collective has petitioned the council, seeking a halt to all roadworks until an independent review is complete.

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In peak Wellington traffic, it takes Sam Scott 45 minutes to drive from Newtown to Cuba Street.

If he bikes, it only takes him five.

Cycling, Scott said, was a way for him to connect to city and his surroundings. He’s more present, he’s more motivated and all round in a better mood.

So why then does the building of bike lanes generate so much angst?

In May, The Post reported cycle lanes in Wellington would be growing from 23km to 51km in just three years. Wellington City Council has spent almost $42 million cycleways in the last two years, with another $111m earmarked in its new 10-year budget. Hefty numbers, but still a drop in the bucket to the cash spent on roads.

Sam Scott started cycling two years ago, mainly for supermarket runs, dropping the kids at school and band practice.

Then there are retailers who complain the loss of car parking and disruption during construction are hurting their businesses.

Scott doesn’t buy the argument about fewer parks in the city as a result of bike lanes.

“There's a lot of studies that have gone into people's behaviour when you take away car parks ‒ what happens is you end up with more available parks for people who really need them because people decide to use other means to get where they're going.”

Roadworks for the cycleway and bus lane down Thorndon Quay.

He likened cycling to reverse meditation. Being outside of “the bubble” of his car and being alert in the traffic brought a sense of calm.

“I think people in cars … they think there's no-one on those cycle lanes. But when you're on a bike, you realise how many people are using them.

While Scott said there was “an element of privilege to be being able to buy a bike that’s big enough to cart your children around on”, in the long run, they were more economical than cars.

City councillor Ben McNulty said Wellington’s focus on cycleway infrastructure came down to three things.

Firstly, the small geographical footprint meant roads could only have so much capacity for population growth.

Before Covid-19 and working from home became popular, morning commute traffic from the northern suburbs was “prolific”, he said.

Maps released by the Wellington City Council show the fast growth of the city's network of bike lanes, with 28kms built in three years.

Climate change was another influence and with New Zealand declaring a climate emergency at the end of 2020, the council looked for ways to reduce emissions.

Road safety and ensuring people travelled safely from A to B was the final factor and one McNulty held close, having children of his own.

A fast rollout of lanes was with the view that adoption would be greater if there was an integrated network.

Data suggested the monthly average number of bike trips had increased 62% from July 2021/2022 to July 2023/2024 on the Newtown to city route.

Wellington City councillor Ben McNulty says the recent pause on funding for cycleways is “disappointing”.

In 2022, Newtown shops concerned about the effects of the changes on their businesses presented a petition with more than 700 signatures to the council, asking for a halt on construction.

McNulty empathised with those who may have seen “detrimental effects” as a result of the quick changes.

Thorndon Quay, for example, lent itself to bulky products like furniture, which needed spaces for cars to park.

A “rebalancing over time” would naturally occur where cafes and smaller businesses would be drawn towards cycle lane areas, he believed.

“It's just a natural evolution of the city.“

Projects like fellow councillor Nureddin Abdurahman’s idea to turn the empty lot behind the Island Bay library into parking spaces would have brought “a lot more goodwill” with local businesses, if they were conceived in the beginning.

McNulty said the recent pause on funding for cycleways was “disappointing”.

“Part of why we could roll it out quickly was around that philosophy of getting things on the ground, get the uptick, but also find out what is and isn't working before we do permanent changes.”

The cost of projects had become “a lot more affordable”, he said ‒ almost halving in cost per kilometre since the councils first project in Island Bay.

The council needed to further analyse both car parking habits and cycle lane use to understand what was happening within the city, McNulty said.

In this new series, Capital Conversation, The Post is digging even deeper into the issues holding Wellington back, while continuing to champion what’s great.