Smoother bussing and safer biking in Newtown? Now, or maybe not for a decade!
If you want a decently bikeable and more bus-friendly route between Newtown centre and the city, anytime within a decade, you need to give this a cheerful positive shove, now! Window closes this Wednesday!
We have a partial separated cycleway and partial dedicated bus lanes in Newtown. Yes, you’ve probably submitted supportively on this before – many of us have! But (surprise surprise) a no-brainer is needing another shove to be implemented.
TL;DR
I have 5 minutes til I’m off the bus / the baby wakes up / my toast’s done. I know this is good. Tell me what to do, people.
Submit by email
send them an email
Subject line: submission on Newtown to City cycleway and bus lanes.
Body: I strongly support the proposed changes including the traffic resolution. This will be good for everyone. [your name, address and phone number].
Hit Send.
Do their form (probably more like 5-6 minutes)
Race through the first bit, just hit the “good for” each time and don’t overthink it. Remember, the odds are stacked in favour of the status quo, and you’re just a citizen. You’re allowed to be a bit basic.
If you can be more fulsome… read on!
- First, we orient you in the process.
- And say why Now matters (local body processes and politics and LGWM aarrgh)
- Then, a guide on the design.
What’s going on with this process? Weren’t we supposed to be able to try it out properly and see…?
Wellington – like many other towns worldwide – is trying to start using better processes to roll out good street changes, faster than our previous glacial snail.
This is all recognising that it’s a bit silly to try to get a whole route’s worth of (for example) bus lanes, walking changes and cycle infrastructure all perfect via on-paper consultation, before installing anything.
So instead, a quickly-installed initial layout (“tactical deployment”) using lighter materials is done and is immediately usable, albeit rough around the edges. This lets everyone try it out, generating loads of real-life evidence that allows the city to tweak and refine the details in-situ. (Seville used a similar approach to their extremely successful cycle network, and consultation via an in-street, adaptable trial is a pillar of the “tactical urbanism” philosophy,)
So, we should welcome this kind of approach – but the court action forced a halt to the Newtown bus/bike project’s “tactical delivery” stage.
(Sidebar: Fortunately, we needn’t worry that this experience will kill off these kinds of processes in their NZ infancy. An upcoming bundle of legislation change, “Reshaping Streets”, is a welcome update to the old, unfit LGA and LTA processes. If passed, amongst other necessary things, it’ll make it a bit cleaner and less janky for councils to use tactical type processes. (And yes, that’ll need your boost too – but not right now.) So in a few years’ time we’ll look back on a period of teething troubles as NZ comes to grips with some great new tools in our street-changing toolbox. Expect to see lots more street improvements done well and using tactical methods.)
Process we’re in
So for this particular project, thanks to the court case, we’re now back in the traditional Traffic Resolution process, the very one which has made it so hard to make safer and more efficient streets over the years (and which the legislation changes are helping with).
Yay.
It’s quite cumbersome, and demands a period of consultation (where we all squint at renders, design drawings, terrible tables of text, trying feverishly to imagine what it’ll be like. Based on that “insight”, council officers draw up a proposed “traffic resolution” that sets out the changes to the street. And then there’s a full Council session where councillors consider feedback, listen to members of the public, and vote to support or oppose the Traffic Resolution. It all comes down to that one decision. Sigh.
There’ll be plenty of fevered imaginations and loud voices crying that safer and more bussable streets will be disastrous, as usual.
And for an extra frisson, councillors are all in “vote me in again!” mode. So it’s crucial that your voice is heard.
It’s now
It’s really important that there can be a better bussable and bikeable route along here done “interim styles”, because the next time it’ll get attention is… when LGWM does the complete street do-up for mass transit and so forth. Which is a decade away, if we’re lucky.
And what with the “can’t get much done” period post-elections, of administration around a new council finding its feet, and getting to grips with a work programme, this is the last chance to get this route sorted before summer.
I’m in! So what’s to say about the design then?
The court action aborted everyone’s opportunity to try out a full-length deployment,
But even the half-done tactical delivery has already been really helpful about what details of the gear are working well and what needs tweaking.
Lots of rich, evidence-based feedback (joy!) has come in from organisations like the Hospital and from regular people who’ve been able to experience the changes while walking, bussing, biking, scooting, driving amongst them in real time. Where possible, the council’s already made adjustments to the gear in the street, such as tweaking the layout to make it clearer where the not-cars space is. So the Traffic Resolution is using all this, and proposing improvements on what’s currently in the street.
You could just read about that yourself if you like – there’s tons of good info and pictures on the project page. There are very cool sliders with “now/future”!
If you’re rich on time, there are still drop-in sessions available (see project page).
To submit, we recommend you use Cycle Wellington’s submission guide. It’s thorough, solid, and thoughtful about bussing as well as biking. Easy! [Your author just copied their “you could say” comments into the submission form’s Any Comments field, dialled up the sass because that’s how I’d say it in my personal capacity, and hit Submit.]
submission guide
(you can also email or even post it in – just make sure it’s in by 5pm 31st August, that’s Wednesday)
And to add extra oomph to your friendly shove…
Why not speak up in realtime!
If you’re the kind of person who’d like to ride in Newtown but don’t because it’s too goddamn scary, or you take the bus and grind your teeth at your bus being stuck in private-car traffic, please consider speaking to the Council meeting: putting in your 2c to the councillors in realtime!
This makes a huge impact on councillors. And we know that they’ll hear in person, with extreme passion, from plenty of people convinced the world will come to an end if they or their patrons can’t park exactly where they used to.
All it takes is getting your slot and saying the same general support, look forward to it being even roughly right, and LGWM should hurry up and do it really properly.
You DON’T have to be an expert on the infrastructure. You just have to be an expert on how you feel when you think about taking one or another kind of transport in the morning, on your values for living in the city, on what you want for your children.
How’s this for inspiration: some regular people who care, in Upper Hutt, just got their council to vote unanimously to investigate putting cycle lanes down the entire of their main drag, Fergusson Drive!
A big part of that was people speaking in the council meeting. Inspirational!
If you needed any more encouragement: we gather WCC is considering small-group meetings and zui for their Council meeting, which would be a bit friendlier than speaking in front of lots of people. If you’d like to speak to the Council meeting but are nervous, drop us a line – we can help you be your best self.
But regardless, just make sure you whack in a submission. Go you good thing!
Here’s a peek of the happiness you’ll be helping become a more regular sight…
I certainly support safe cycle lanes for cyclists, but I have some real issues with the design in Newtown. As a Disabled person I don’t feel safe due to the design of the bus platform. Its steep and uneven and can be slippery. The shelter is too far away from the bus stop and so by the time we realise a bus is coming, get out of the shelter and head over to the stop, the bus goes by. The bus platform itself if one stands on it to wait for a bus, it is to narrow which means that people must step back on to the cycle lane to let people off the bus. I don’t feel that safe crossing the cycle lane as some cyclists don’t slow down, don’t always see people on the lane. There are no access car parks and so many people can’t walk the distance from a side street or say the hospital parking. For many disabled and older persons to access services in Newtown now is almost impossible. I think the design can be improved to keep both cyclists and pedestrians safe. I along with others have made many comments and suggestions to WCC but with little impact to date.