A view from the cycle path: Cycling over Auckland Harbour Bridge

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Cycling over Auckland Harbour Bridge

I lived in New Zealand from 1974 until 1981, my family returning to the UK when I was 15.

I crossed the Auckland Harbour Bridge on many occasions - but always by car. The original plans for the bridge were to have included paths for pedestrians, but these were dropped as an austerity move. It is still not possible to cross this bridge either by bike or on foot.

Bridges ought to provide a link for cyclists. However, in this case it's a barrier. The detour by road to cross the harbour is about 40 km in length.

There is now a campaign, www.getacross.org.nz, trying to get permanent access to this bridge, as the detour by road is a considerable distance. Auckland cyclists have said they are willing to pay a toll to cross the bridge - even though drivers do not currently pay a toll.

The main span of Auckland Harbour Bridge is 243 m - just 8 metres longer than the main span of a bridge for cyclists in Nijmegen in the Netherlands that I covered a few weeks back. That bridge, like all I've seen for cyclists in the Netherlands, is free of charge.

The Auckland harbour bridge also appears in Google Street View

In New Zealand, like all English speaking countries, only around 1% of journeys are by bike. If you want to know why this is, read other blog posts about cycling in New Zealand. There are also several other blog posts about bridges for cyclists as well as about tunnels, which often work better for cyclists than bridges.

7 comments:

Kevin Love said...: This reminds me of Toronto's Prince Edward Viaduct. Except that the PEV has bike lanes.

At the time it was built, the PEV included a very expensive and controversial lower deck to accomodate a future subway. This was a wise and foresighted move, for millions of dollars were saved when no major structural changes were later required to extend the subway across the bridge.; 13 December 2009 at 14:01
Kevin Love said...: I should give my source for previous post on the Prince Edward Viaduct. It is Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward_Viaduct

Is the Auckland Harbour bridge a suicide magnet the way the PEV was before the suicide barrier went up?; 13 December 2009 at 18:20
Andy in Germany said...: how these 'Austerity' mves don't say, close the road or make it narrower.; 13 December 2009 at 20:13
jayjay said...: Great video - I was able to cycle up the bridge on the day 'Get Across' planned earlier this year. I watch that site closely for updates on plans to let us across - which I believe is meant to happen, sooner rather than later. They are looking now at tucking a cycleway in under the bridge I think. And yes, Kevin, the bridge has been a suicide magnet.; 13 December 2009 at 20:34
Chris said...: Great post - thanks.

I walked over the bridge on that day - it was fantastic to be able to do so. There were around 10,000 people who walked/cycled across.

I don't believe that the Harbour Bridge is a suicide magnet. There's no footpath onto the bridge so you must drive onto it. Then once on, you can't pull over and stop anywhere. If you did you would get the aggressive behaviour from other drivers which is enough to keep you moving on... and while there have been jumps from the bridge, the jumpers haven't alway died as the height isn't sufficient enough.

Grafton Bridge on the other hand... I think the last straw for the authorities was when a young woman killed herself, landing unfortunately on the motorway off ramp below much to the horror of an approaching driver. Since the barriers went up nobody has tried as it is very difficult.; 13 December 2009 at 22:31
Matt said...: That song should be on TV1 one morning in the minutes before Paul Henry interviews John Key, without either of them knowing it's going to be on.

And the cars should pay a toll to build the bikeway.; 14 December 2009 at 07:27
Unknown said...: Damn straight, Matt. Driving a car in NZ is way too cheap and doesn't cover the social cost that we all pay for this mode of transport. In reality, this apparent clean, green country is high on petrol fumes. And Paul Henry is still not over the fact that motorists were inconvenienced by the bridge crossing in May 09.

Great blog, by the way, David.; 6 January 2010 at 10:43

Posts sorted by subject

The positive stuff
Three types of safety - As well as preventing injuries and death, high quality cycling infrastructure addresses both subjective safety and social safety which are of vital importance in encouraging people to cycle.
A second revolution took place on Dutch streets in the late 20th century, transforming streets which were just as clogged by cars as those of other nations.
Pedestrians are well catered for in the Netherlands and pedestrianized shopping streets are common. Usually they allow cycling for access.
Dutch Safety Figures - Cyclists in the Netherlands are the safest in the world, but it has little if anything to do with "safety in numbers".
Sustainable safety - the principles which have lead to Dutch roads, streets and cycle-paths being safe.
A million per hour - The scale of cycling in the Netherlands is enormous. Dutch people make more cycle journeys each day than the entire English speaking world put together.
Campaigning - a collection of posts about how to campaign for more cycling. Primarily campaigning should be for children to be able to cycle. These links include reference to "Stop the child murder", a successful campaign from the 1970s.
What Works - examples of policy, infrastructure and campaigning which have made a different in the Netherlands.
Superhighways - "Cycling superhighways" are not a new idea in the Netherlands
Cycle Paths - Well designed cycle paths benefit all cyclists, regardless of experience or speed
Segregation without cycle paths - you don't always need a cycle path to keep cyclists safe from motorists
Unravelling of routes is vitally important
History - how the Netherlands got to where it is now. See especially "Stop the child murder"
Before and After - views of places before and after they have been transformed for cycling
Directness - examples of prioritising cycling
Traffic Lights - examples of how cyclists can be prioritised and kept safe at traffic light junctions. Note that it's almost always possible to turn right on a red light when cycling in the Netherlands.
Roundabouts - roundabouts in the Netherlands have one very important feature to learn from: They keep cyclists away from motor vehicles. This is far more important than the differences in geometry vs. roundabouts in other countries.
Exceptional infrastructure is always nice to see, but remember that a dense network of mundane routes is far more important to boost cycling modal share
Gritting of cycle paths - dealing with snow and ice.
Children - It may seem hackneyed, but children really are the future. If they can't cycle safely then where will future adult cyclists come from ? This is why children should be the primary focus of campaigners. Note also that according to UNICEF, Dutch children are the happiest in the world.
School travel - Everyone knows that Dutch children cycle to school, but it's a surprise to many people that school trips are also usually by bike.
Cycle Parking - including our favourite design of stand.
Cycle Parking at railway stations, see in particular Groningen and Assen as each have multiple posts showing how the cycle parking has grown over time.
Health effects of cycling
Road Works - It's important that cyclists are thought of when there are road works. If the environment becomes hostile for cyclists then they may stop cycling and never start again.
Commuting - Commuting cyclists are interesting, but they're not the only people who should ride bikes.
Anatomy of a reliable everyday bicycle - the common features of bikes used by nearly every person every day in the Netherlands.
Speed - Some people have the idea that Dutch cyclists are slow. This isn't true. It is just that in the Netherlands, everyone cycles, including the slow people. Fast cyclists are as fast as anywhere. These posts show people who ride faster than average, using the same infrastructure as those who ride slower.

The less positive stuff
What not to do if you want a cycling "revolution" - Long list of interventions and policies which are not helpful.
Copy the best examples from the Netherlands - a short list summarising the above. Important to copy the best examples, not just anything "Dutch". Bear in mind that the Netherlands is not perfect.
Shared Space - this much hyped idea simply does not work well. It disenfranchises the vulnerable and claims of safety are exaggerated. Don't confuse the concept with far more successful nearly car free streets.
Shared Use Paths designed to be used by pedestrians and cyclists together. These rarely work well because the two user groups are too different and it leads to conflicts. They are not built in the Netherlands (but cycle access to pedestrianized zones is good).
Strict (or presumed) liability - If you think this is an important part of why people cycle in the Netherlands then it is probably not what you think it is.
Helmets - one of several ways of scaremongering about the supposed dangers of what is actually a very safe means of transport

Myths about cycling

Long list of myths and Excuses - Various reasons that many people, even existing cyclists, give for why the cycling rate is low in their country, including:
  "our streets are too narrow"
  "it's too expensive"
  "our population is too spread out"
  "we have hills
  "our distances are too great"
  "it took decades in the Netherlands"
  "it's because of the price of gas"
  "it's the weather"
  "Cycle-paths cause indirect journeys"
  "Cycle-paths make people slow"
Cycling is "booming" in Britain - a claim we hear remarkably frequently, but it'll take a lot more than the action taken now before it will be true.
The Truth about Copenhagen - Pretty pictures and nice branding are all very well, but facts are important too. Denmark has no explanation of why the cycling modal share is falling in Copenhagen. The Netherlands has avoided this problem and sets a much better example of how to achieve a high cycling rate.
The Truth about Cambridge - Cambridge in the UK has made claims of being a true cycling city. The city does have the highest cycling rate in the English speaking world, but there are special reasons for its high cycling rate which cannot be copied elsewhere. Most people don't talk about this. I do.
London Superhighways - Unfortunately, London seems to be having trouble coming to grips with the idea of prioritizing cyclists.
Boris Bikes - London's bike share scheme, just like others worldwide, lacks the capacity to make any real change, and makes up for it with hype.