Council’s U-turn On Lane Separators ‘Putting Cyclists At Risk’

Tuesday, 18 February 2025, 10:05 pm
Article: Max Frethey - Local Democracy Reporter

The concrete separators along Māpua’s Aranui Road will be removed after community opposition to their presence, but a cycling advocate says the change puts cyclists at risk.

Cycle lanes were added to the road by Tasman District Council in 2023 alongside the separators to physically keep vehicles away from cyclists using the new lanes.

The changes were made as part of the largely Government-funded Streets for People programme which aimed to trial active travel infrastructure that could be cheaply altered in response to feedback.

However, the separators proved controversial and were vocally despised by some residents of the seaside town.

Many claimed the separators were unsafe after they were hit by motorists and cyclists alike.

Similar concerns saw Tasman District Council agree to remove identical separators from Richmond in June 2024, but they have remained untouched in Māpua until now.

Last Thursday, the council staff suggested removing the separators from Aranui Road and elected members agreed.

Bicycle Nelson Bays convenor Bevan Woodward thought the decision was “incredibly disappointing”.

“It’s not what you know should be happening. We want to see action on improving walking and cycling, and we know there's 1000 good reasons for doing so.”

He said the council had caved to a Facebook “firestorm” rather than engaging with a silent majority who had no problem with the separators.

“We haven't gone with the safety approach, we've gone for what is the politically expedient approach.”

Cycling alongside motor vehicles travelling at 50kmh wouldn’t bother some cyclists, Woodward said, but having physical separation between traffic and cyclists made a big difference to some, such as parents with children, and would dampen uptake of cycling in the village.

“It just doesn’t make sense, and now we’re putting cyclists at risk … I would much rather people crash into a buffer than crash into a cyclist.”

However, Māpua-based councillor Mike Kininmonth was “fully in support” of their removal when presented with the option last week.

He thanked the council’s transportation team for listening to the community in light of petitions and angry social media commentary from the community about the separators.

“This is an indication of what people power can do.”

Such commentary predictably resurfaced after the council made a Facebook post about the decision, with residents’ relief tempered by significant levels of frustration.

“Finally, sense,” one commenter said. “It shouldn’t have taken this long, numerous accidents, complaints, and a petition to get them removed.”

“That waste of money should never have happened,” said another.

A council-commissioned independent safety assessment of the concrete separators did not find them unsafe or inappropriate.

The assessment, however, did recommend the installation of vertical delineator poles to provide greater visibility of the lanes to motorists.

But the council opted not to install the poles, which staff have found to be “problematic” due to durability and collision concerns.

While council staff believe the separators have both benefits and drawbacks, they consider that retaining the painted cycle lanes will retain some benefit to cyclists while eliminating the drawbacks.

The separators are expected to be removed in the coming months.

Planter boxes were also removed from the road last May after similar community opposition.

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