NPDC is taking steps to encourage more adults and children onto bikes by making cycle lanes safer on Devon Street West and South Road.

Concrete cycle lane separators will start to be installed early next month between Barrett Road and Morley Street.

“This is a state highway and it services six schools along this section,” says NPDC Major Projects and Planning Delivery Manager Andrew Barron.

“We’ve seen in other cities that physically separated cycle lanes are safer to use than ones that are marked with paint only, and also that they encourage more people onto bikes. More people cycling means fewer cars on the road, so traffic moves more freely and we’re a generally healthier community overall.”

In Wellington, one road project that included cycle lane protection resulted in the number of bike trips rising 62 per cent between July 2022 and July 2024, with 85 per cent of people on bikes saying their experience had improved. In addition, there is an increasing trend of more women and children riding bikes along the route.

Andrew encourages road users to be patient as they get used to the new infrastructure.

“Please drive with care while you adjust to the separators being on the left side of your lane,” he says.

The installation will start at the Barrett Road end and work towards Morley Street until the end of June, with priority given to areas around schools and at pinch-points, where there is a greater chance of vehicles drifting into cycle lanes. Workers will help all road users move safely around work areas.

The separators will be spaced so that vehicles can cross the cycle lanes to access driveways and intersections, and low enough for most cars to carefully pull over into a cycle lane to let emergency vehicles pass by, (or they can pull into gaps between sections of separators until the emergency vehicle has passed them).

More details are on our website at npdc.govt.nz/LetsGoYourWay.

This work is part of a larger Transport Choices project to improve the safety of all road users on Devon Street West/South Road and was approved by the Mayor and councillors in December 2023.

The full Transport Choices project includes one kilometre of shared pathway between Barrett Road and Belair Avenue, four crossing upgrades, safety improvements at 11 intersections plus the cycle lane separators. It has a $3.8 million budget funded by the Government’s Climate Emergency Response Fund – not rates.

Fast facts:

• NPDC looks after 1,309km of urban and rural roads.
• Since 2010, nearly 21,600 school students have received cyclist skills training through NPDC’s Let’s Go programme.

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