Cycle, walkways at dead end

More than half of Hamilton's planned cycle and walkways have been scrapped or put on hold after the NZ Transport Agency cut $3.2 million in funding over three years for the projects.

The bad news was delivered to the Hamilton City Council's transport committee yesterday, along with bus fare increases also due to the reduced funding.

The committee was told 25 cycle and walkways, to be developed between 2009 and 2012 under the council's long-term council community plan, were now on hold indefinitely because of the pulled funding.

Committee chairman Dave Macpherson said Hamilton would suffer as a result of the reduced subsidy, which last week forced Environment Waikato to increase bus fares across the board.

Mr Macpherson linked the funding cuts to the $300m Waikato Expressway between Auckland and Cambridge, which the Government is fast-tracking.

"A lot of our programmes to deal with congestion, walking and cycling, and community projects, are being hacked into as a result of the expansion of that expressway." He added the money being pulled by the agency was "absolutely peanuts" compared with what would be spent on the expressway. Councillor Daphne Bell was concerned at the result of the increased fares on the use of buses in Hamilton and what that could mean for other commuters. "If you put the fares too high we'll see that (patronage) unravel and there are implications for the whole community, and I think priorities around roads and transport are short-sighted."

Works and services general manager Chris Allen said the council was in year six of the previously agreed 10-year city cycle network programme. "Obviously the funding decisions have been quite catastrophic for us in the walking and cycling area." Some of the projects left unfunded included Queenwood Esplanade – an extension of the eastern river path along River Rd to Pukete Bridge ($476,800); Minogue Park – the southern and eastern sides of Lake Rotokaeo ($327,500); and phase one of the central business district ($200,000).

Mr Allen listed 17 projects council staff believed should remain a priority during the next three years, including a portion of the Great New Zealand River Ride national cycling project which presented an opportunity for funding from the Tourism Ministry. Other priorities included projects where some agency funding could still be available, including the development of a path at Te Hikuwai Reserve, north of Pukete Bridge.

Adding a cycleway to a portion of River Rd from Thames St to Memorial Dr was made a priority, while there was some discussion around pedestrians and cyclists sharing footpaths.

- © Fairfax NZ News