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Submission id number: 963498
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How are we doing? Is there anything you would like to tell us?
Am very happy that the Tunnels Trail for a shared pathway between Mosgiel and Caversham has been approved, but now this project needs to be designed and built without delay. The Tunnels trail project should be given immediate and high priority, without delay, with a focus of delivering operational sections as soon as possible. The tunnels trail is Dunedin's internal transport corridor between the coast and the Plain, as well as our link to the wider Otago cycleway network.
What other ideas should we be thinking about to include in future plans for our city?
All 'separated cycleways' should be built fully separated from traffic. The present partly-on-road-cyclepaths on the one way system need upgrading to be fully separated from traffic, immediately. The new one way cycle path is dangerous, because there are intersections where the cyclist is meant to "merge" with the main road and "share" with vehicles. It's only a matter of time before someone gets killed, so please always have at least a metre wide separated path that vehicles cannot drive onto.
There needs to be separated Northbound and Southbound cycleways on George St, as part of the "makeover". The George Street debacle is an excellent example of a half-baked, not fit for purpose DCC project. There is NO CYCLEWAY on the new one-way section! In theory some cyclists could 'be a car' and use the street to go south, although that's not an option for beginners or children. but, there is NO CYCLEPATH going north! I have seen some cyclists using the pavement to bike north - of course that is extremely unsafe for pedestrians (especially children, elderly, low-vision, etc). I am sure that the 'hype' about the 'George St makeover' included a cycleway - so why did councillors approve a design without a cycleway? In the interim, there should be a green cyclepath marked on the outermost 1.5 metres of the paved area, so there is a designated place for people to bike northwards. The pavement advertising signs should be removed so they don't block pedestrians or cyclists in this area. (And future George St work should be infrastructure replacement/maintenance, then tarseal - how can we justify wasting money on expensive landscaping when infrastructure all over the city is failing?)
All road maintenance/constriction by the DCC must build in a safe shoulder for pedestrians and cyclists, as a compulsory part of the design. An example of how the DCC makes roads more dangerous is the Highcliff Road by Arthurs Seat. The DCC put in gabions to stablise the edge of the road, or so we thought. But then they put up a "safety barrier" on the road shoulder that narrowed the usable width of the road, and forces runners and cyclists onto the road itself.
I am disappointed by the DCC 'toilet policy' approved by councillors. Turns out, most of the 'new' toilets are being built to replace older toilets that the DCC is removing. What we need is programme that builds at least two toilets in new locations each year, in addition to the toilet replacements.