
Grey Lynn Cycle Lanes
Right, I’ll cut to the chase. There’s been a lot of chastising Auckland Transport for their implementation of the West Lynn cycle lanes. I’d like to say just how pleased I am that they’re being built. Ok, they’re not the best, but they are better than nothing. And the floating bus stop is a great design.
What the fracas has achieved is starting the conversation of the need for cycle lanes. It already has had a positive impact on cycling in and around the area. And that’s despite Lisa Prager and her automobile loving group of despots. Because, let’s be honest, they want the status quo and have hijacked the word safety to promote their desperate campaign against cycle lanes.
I’ve sat around the table with Prager and been directly told by her that she hates cycle lanes. She was scared of ‘her’ cafés parking space being taken away. The fact that she thinks it is her carpark is frightening enough. The fact that she has started this campaign is terrifying. The person who campaigns against Auckland council wastage is doing exactly that. She has stopped all work on the cycle lanes along Old Mill Road.
The positives are that they will be built. They do need better design, but that will happen. As will the redesign of the West Lynn shops. It’s great to see kids cycling to school. But kids cycling to school are what Prager fears. She relies on parents dropping their kids off to school to stop in and buy coffee and food. This her beef with the implementation, and it is scary for business. That is until they see the benefits of cycle ways.
It’s funny that she has now jumped on to the green bandwagon and is now also including protesting about the trees being cut down to make way for they cycle lanes. The sad part of this whole shambles is that Auckland Transport compromised not putting cycle lanes on the road to appease Prager and co. This wasn’t good enough. She, and Penny Bright ( whom I had a great deal of respect for, even voted for) have now become the anti-cyclist lobby for Grey Lynn and Westmere. Promoting everything they say they stand against. So there is some humour in their argument. It’s full of contradictions. It’s less complete than the cycle lanes of Auckland.
Cycling in Auckland is becoming safer and a lot more of people are doing it. The tipping point has almost been reached. Here’s to Auckland Transport growing some balls and making cycling safer.
What we need now are more bike racks, and less car parks.