CCC Lincoln Bus Lanes and Cycling
Closes 4.12.18
https://www.ccc.govt.nz/the-council/consultations-and-submissions/haveyoursay/show/184
Christchurch – Where the Future is On the Bus
Submission made to CCC 4.12.18
This plan continues to build for cars, prioritizes this route for buses and offers leftovers for people on bicycles. This is business as usual with a few tweaks.
Albert Einstein observed “The thinking that brought you into trouble will not bring you out of it.”
Hope is not found in this plan.
“If community were a verb its past tense would be tradition, its future tense, hope.”
— Anon.
Observation
Thank you for the 30 km/h speed limit and advanced stop boxes at intersections. Spokes cannot support this plan as proposed.
A complete cycle network needs to meet the needs of all people who would like to cycle to destinations. This project does not provide infrastructure which will attract the ‘interested but concerned cyclists Council tells us they desire to serve. Providing a major cycle route which does not go to their destinations on Lincoln Road will not make cycling more attractive.
People on bicycles coming from south Aidanfield, south Hilmorton and north Hoon Hay will find Lincoln Road to be the most direct route to destinations along it and to the central city.
With on again off again painted cycle lanes narrowing to mere strips for the on again off again on street parking and widening to take advantage of the on again off again bus lanes all road users will be challenged on this very busy road. Safety is not achieved.
Vital Remediation Required:
- Bus lanes will need to be at least 4.5 meters width to allow buses to pass cyclists safely.
- Where cycle lanes are provided widths need to be at least 2 meters to allow safe passing and to meet future demand as per C.D.G. 3.2.3.
- Where on street parking is allowed at least 900mm door buffer zone in addition to cycle lane is needed.
- Where right turns are prohibited, physical barriers will be required.
- Increase signal phase timing at Hagley Ave crossing of Moorhouse. People on foot and bike are already unable to cross fully during peak hours.
- The bus lane on Moorhouse is 3.4m wide well below that required. Cycle Design Guidelines 3.6 states the absolute minimum is 4.2m with the ideal set at 4.5m. The bus stop on Moorhouse will push cyclists into the next lane to get past a bus or when a bus has to pass a cyclist safety is lost. Cyclists are going to lose their cycle lane on Moorhouse to a bus lane and in return get no safe way to travel west along that section of Moorhouse. This issue of a narrow bus lane also applies between Moorhouse and the railway crossing.
- Cars on Moorhouse turning left onto Grove Street need to give way to people on bikes traveling in the cycle lane. This is a potential lethal pinch point. Move the bypass entry to past Grove Road or block cars from turning onto Grove Road from Moorhouse Avenue.
- Continue green paint on Moorhouse cycle lane continuously through to Lincoln Road. This reinforces to drivers to be aware of cyclists who have not used the bypass.
- Convert several on street car parks on Lincoln Road to cycle corrals and provide additional off street bike parking.
- There are no cross section widths given for the Wrights to Curletts section, these need to be included in plans as these are important. It looks as though cyclists on the SE side will be on a narrow lane (blocked by a bus stop) with two lanes of fast moving traffic to their right. This might be tolerated by hardened cycle commuters but unsafe and threatening for everyone else. No mention of bus lane widths, need to be 4.5m as per Cycle Design Guidelines.
Discussion
For people on bikes coming from Hoon Hay and surrounds the infrastructure proposed on this heavily trafficked road is unsafe, not inviting and certainly not attractive to the ‘interested but concerned’ cyclists Council keeps telling us their infrastructure projects are targeted at. Major Cycle Routes are great, but are not an acceptable alternative to providing a complete cycle network. Both are required.
The consultation leaves out sections of Lincoln Road which are likely to be used by cyclists coming from the west. Piecemeal planning produces spotty and unsuitable cycle networks. No doubt this is as the consultation is really about the bus lanes. The clear message is that cycling is not a ‘real’ transport mode. It is disappointing that Council continues to see cycling as a ‘nice to have’ or tick box item, not a fully acknowledged mode with appropriate and complete infrastructure provided or even properly planned for. With the projected traffic numbers cycling will need complete and inviting infrastructure.
Lincoln Road needs to be part of a local cycle network. This would provide people on bikes with safe inviting access to the many businesses and places of employment along that road. This plan will establish Lincoln Road as a bus and car artery assuring gridlock while poorly serving the needs of people who cycle.
Hardened commuter cyclists will make do, just as they have for the last 40 years or more of underfunding for cycle infrastructure. Council needs to provide funding for ongoing share the road campaigns to remind drivers that people on bicycles are allowed to take the lane for safety.
Spokes consistently asks Council to work with people who cycle and specifically with Spokes to develop a complete cycle network along with scheduling and funding. This is another example of why that is required to actually deliver the cycling infrastructure Christchurch needs. Please re-establish the Cycling Advisory Panel.
