28 June 2023 Please find below comments from the Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association on the proposed cycleway in Grenada St. Regards, Philip Brown Chair PRRA
Grenada St Proposed Cycleway see TCC Grenada St Transport Proposals
Design Flaws and Risk
1. Narrowing of road so no space to go to avoid dogs on the road, vehicles wandering over the centre line, errant cyclists, any emergency swerve.
2. Where are the bins placed on rubbish days? Kerbside or edge of cycleway?
3. The rubbish collection truck will park in the cycle lane each week for hours obstructing school time cycling. Then the cyclists in both directions will be forced onto the narrowed roadway, Accident!!!
4. Where does a truck delivering to a property park?
5. Where does any delivery vehicle to a property park? If the vehicle parks in the roadway, the road is blocked. If it parks in the cycleway, where do the cyclists go? Banning of deliveries is not possible.
6. Roadside parking outside properties has been removed.
7. Cyclist have been demoted to second class road users with the convoluted manoeuvres required at the intersection.
8. Where do emergency vehicles park. On the cycleway?
9. Where do visitors to a property park?
Cycling Concerns
1. The close proximity of bus and cyclists to each other creates a high risk of bus v (school) cyclist incident. This was considered unacceptable in Links Ave, why is it acceptable in Grenada St? There is no separation between the cyclists and the buses. If staggered kerbs are proposed for separation, then this will take more road space and hitting the kerbs will launch contra flow cyclists into the path of the buses and other vehicles.
2. Good practice says there needs to be 1.5m separation between cyclists and vehicles. This has been ignored. There are council signs throughout Tauranga requesting this separation.
3. There is contraflow movement between cyclists and vehicles with nil separation.
4. Many users will be schoolchildren with poorly developed road skills and spatial sense. This design does not create a safe cycleway.
5. Cyclist have been demoted to second class road users with the convoluted manoeuvres required at many intersections.
Summary
1. Grenada St is too narrow to accommodate this scheme. A combination of Grenada and Gloucester Streets may work better.
2. There is generally a wide berm outside the properties in Grenada St. A better solution is to do the task properly and use sensible design to have a shared footpath/cycleway on both sides of the road using the berm.
3. Spend the money and invest in good infrastructure which creates value and a good amenity for the community.
4. Cyclists need a separated safe cycleway, not road sharing. Using the berms will achieve this.
This is a cheap solution “paint only” which provides
· a dangerous cycleway for the users,
· constricts the movement of traffic along Grenada St and
· reduces property values by banning onstreet parking outside properties.
· may also create social isolation of the residents by discouraging family visitors.
Many of these points were used by TCC to justify the Links Ave debacle. Now they are forgotten.
