Wheels to Wings – Papanui ki Waiwhetū cycleway

After considering all submissions received during the consultation with the community, and seeking additional information from staff, the hearings panel recommended the Council approve the revised design scheme, with some changes.

View the full submissions [PDF, 7.9 MB].

 The panel also recommended that:

• Some safety improvements are made to the Harewood Road section of the cycleway, by the entrance and exit to the busy Mitre 10 store.
• Council staff investigate building a raised safety platform on Harewood Road at the signalised pedestrian/cycle crossing between Matsons Avenue and Chapel Street.
• The Council work to ensure the delivery of other transport projects in the area are aligned with the cycleway.

The hearings panel’s full recommendations were considered by the Council in July 2022.  The Council's approval of the Panel’s recommendations means the project has moved into the detailed design phase.

The approved scheme design includes about 70 changes to the scheme consulted on in 2021. This is a result of community engagement over the past 18 months where we received extensive feedback.

Read more on Newsline(external link).

We held three information days on 27, 28 and 29 October 2021. At the information days, we discussed the changes we’re proposing, shared the design concepts we’ve looked at and sought further feedback from the community. 

We’ve considered each submission and thought about how we can best accommodate key concerns and suggestions, to achieve a safe and effective design.

Being safe on and around our roads is important.  We’re making safety improvements for everyone in the community and those passing through, so it’s safe and easy to get to where you want to go. We’ve also followed up with many of the submitters to understand their submissions better.

Check out more information on what we’ve heard from you [PDF, 587 KB] and what you told us you like about this cycleway [PDF, 1.5 MB]. 

Some submitters also asked about the number of cycle trips on Harewood Road. [PDF, 101 KB]

Proposed changes to the design

We’ve considered how we can best accommodate key concerns and suggestions, in a safe and effective design. 

Check out how we’ve considered these in our preferred design [PDF, 4.1 MB] for each section of the cycleway.

There’s one preferred design for each section of the cycleway and we’ve also included other concepts we considered, including those proposed by locals. 

You can also check out our map of the key design changes based on your feedback [PDF, 22 MB] or watch the briefing to the Wheels to Wings Hearings Panel which explains the design changes.

On Thursday 2 December 2021, the Waimāero Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood and Waipapa Papanui-Innes community boards held a joint workshop. They were presented with all the information about the different design options and briefed on the feedback received during the community information days and further engagement. 

• Report to Community Board workshop.(external link)

Feedback

• Wheels to Wings feedback – consultation November 2021 [PDF, 655 KB]
• Wheels to Wings attachments to feedback [PDF, 2.6 MB]

Preferred design plans

This design proposes a one-way separated cycleway on each side of Harewood Road between Nunweek Boulevard and Bishopdale roundabout.

It will connect to the preferred design for the cycleway west of Nunweek Boulevard with a signalised crossing. It then changes to a section of two-way cycleway on the north side of Harewood Road from the roundabout to Greers Road. One traffic lane is removed on each side of the road in the four-lane section.

It provides cycle facilities to the standard required for a major cycle route. It maintains access at all intersections and U-turn pockets and makes it safe and easy for cyclists to get to where they want to go.

For these reasons, it’s the preferred design. It does, however, reduce the amount of on-street parking by approximately 50%.

Hearings Panel briefing

Preferred design plans

This design proposes a two-way cycleway on the northern side of Harewood Road and the removal of on-street parking alongside it to fit the cycleway in and retain the flush central painted median.

Turning restrictions at side roads are needed to maintain a safe route for cyclists. It retains more on-street parking than one-way cycleways and provides cycle facilities to the required standard of a Major Cycle Route.

For these reasons, it’s the preferred design.

Hearings Panel briefing

Preferred design plans

This design proposes widening the existing narrow path on the southern side of Harewood Road to make it wide enough for a shared pedestrian and cycle path.

Widening the path provides more space for everyone. Shared paths are the most common type of cycleway in less urbanised areas. A shared path on the southern side is preferred over locating one on the northern side as there’s more space. In addition, there’s a stormwater drain on the northern side which would require more construction work and cost more if a path was to be located there.

On-street parking is generally retained, with one space removed on Harewood Road outside Harewood School, and approximately nine spaces removed for trees to be planted between the shared path and the road.

The existing traffic lanes and road shoulders are retained.

This is the preferred design for this section due to minimal on-street parking removal and low impact to traffic lanes and road shoulders.

Hearings Panel briefing

Each concept has been evaluated against a series of project outcomes. These outcomes include criteria drawn from community feedback as well as criteria based on safety for cycleway and other road users.

 Have a look at the criteria we've looked at and how each design option performs. [PDF, 188 KB]

There was a lot of feedback from submitters about the potential removal of mature trees in the roundabout and the potential for traffic delays with the proposed traffic signals.

We’ve investigated this in more detail with an arborist, and we can now retain most of the trees. However, it is likely the three oak trees will need to be removed to fit the extra traffic lanes around the roundabout. The tree removal within the roundabout would be required for all the design concepts.

We expect traffic delays to remain about the same as they are currently, and the queues to be shorter on Highsted Road and Farrington Avenue during peak travel periods. Have a look at the video below to see how traffic will get around the roundabout.

Bishopdale roundabout from a cyclist's perspective – eastbound

Bishopdale roundabout from a cyclist's perspective – westbound

Bishopdale roundabout from a driver's perspective – eastbound

Bishopdale roundabout from a driver's perspective – westbound

The preferred design of the cycleway proposes reducing Harewood Road from four lanes to two and adds traffic signals in several places along the route.

We’re expecting it to take slightly longer to get from one end of Harewood Road to the other – we estimate it would take an extra one minute to travel its full length in peak hour.

Our modelling shows that one traffic lane in each direction is adequate for the current and future traffic volumes on Harewood Road. We expect traffic delays at intersections rather than mid-block. Journey times for routes including Breens Road, Gardiners Road, Farrington Road, Highsted Road and Greers Road would improve.

There’s further work planned in the wider area to help with traffic flow. For example, the intersection of Northcote/Sawyers Arms/Greers roads is due to be upgraded.