Walking & cycling facilities

In 2020 the Client sought to improve the conspicuity of pedestrian crossing locations without delaying motor traffic and settled on flush red "courtesy" crossings. 

These have raised concerns, especially amongst the elderly and mobility-impaired community as they do not clearly establish who has right of way and drivers are not slowing down. 

Transitional cycleways are a series of projects across Wellington that included use of quick-build materials for building a network of cycleways often through very challenging corridors. The corridors feature a combination of on-road separated cycleways, neighbourhood greenways, off-road paths, and raised dual crossings.

New Plymouth District Council were successful in securing one of the highest Transport Choices funding allocations in the country to fast‐track separated cycling facilities and improve pedestrian access and public transport provision along key corridors. ViaStrada was engaged by NPDC to lead a team of experts in planning and designing 14 km of key road corridors in New Plymouth.

ViaStrada's strategic walking and cycling network review in 2024 identified Leith St as a secondary cycle route with a suggestion that it will be a low-speed shared zone. NZTA’s current SH88 project includes design changes to Frederick St and St Andrew St. Both roads intersect with Leith St which means this project presents an opportunity to implement parts of a future Leith St cycle route.

The Tikipunga Single Stage Business Case actions the identified fifth route in the hub and spoke main corridor model within the Whangārei Walking and Cycling Strategy (2018) . The focus of the business case is the city links programme, connecting the Tikipunga town centre to Whangārei City Centre, based primarily upon the residential growth occurring in the area. Following community input, further supporting programme options and recommendations showed a need for local links (between amenities in Tikipunga and Otangarei) and recreational links (for leisure and sports).

ViaStrada supported Far North District Council with a successful application for funding through Climate Emergency Response Funding Transport Choices in late 2022, (ViaStrada assisted earlier in the case for funding for FNDC, see here).

ViaStrada provided professional advice to council staff to help prepare them for discussion with elected members regarding the Albany Street cycleway through the tertiary precinct. 

The report addressed council’s key questions: 

Is Albany Street likely to remain the preferred route for a dedicated cycleway? 

ViaStrada prepared five funding applications for pilot projects using "tactical urbanism" techniques to test changes to the street environment. Three of them received funding: the Kakaharoa Drive connection between the town centre and riverfront; the activation of King Street in Kopeopeo; and the low-traffic concepts for the Muriwai neighbourhood. The applications included strategic context, organisation charts, concept graphics, cost estimates, and monitoring/evaluation plans.

To give effect to one of the six City Vision principles – “Pedal Power” – ViaStrada was commissioned to develop recommendations on how to better provide for cycling access to and within the central city. The proposals included road diets (road space reallocation), “two-minus-one” lane layouts, contra-flow cycle lanes, buffered cycle lanes, speed limit reductions, and minor parking management changes.

ViaStrada was commissioned by Auckland Transport to conduct a safety audit of the 85% detailed design plans for the Avondale to New Lynn shared path. The path largely follows the railway corridor from Blockhouse Bay Road in Avondale to Memorial Drive in New Lynn. It includes sections through Chalmers Reserve, through a Housing NZ development, and along St Georges Road.