Cycleway consultation to be discussed
Masterton District Council on Wednesday (17 May) whether to proceed to the consultation phase of a proposed cycleway project, running from the Masterton Netball Courts to Kuripuni.
The cycleway is intended to provide a safe cycle route for school students and other users along Colombo Road and Herbert Street and would be funded by Waka Kotahi as part of its Transport Choices programme.
Funding is also available to install bike parking facilities at the netball courts and Kuripuni shopping area.
It would be the first separately demarcated cycleway in Masterton, that builds on a route identified in the Council’s Cycling Strategy adopted in 2017.
As well as Lakeview Primary and Chanel College, the cycleway would potentially provide part of the route for students of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa, Mākoura College, and students from the eastside of Masterton travelling to and from Masterton Intermediate and Masterton Primary School.
Councillors will discuss the proposed route and draft design at their meeting on Wednesday. If agreed, public consultation on the project would start on 29 May.
Early engagement with businesses, organisations and schools along the route has already informed the draft design, with a bi-directional (two-way) cycleway on one side of the road, rather than having a cycle lane on both sides of the road. It is proposed to cross Colombo Road part-way between Herbert St and Worksop Road to preserve on-road parking options directly outside businesses.
The proposed cycleway would not affect residents’ access to existing off-road parking and would ensure that where the cycleway runs directly past properties, public parking would remain available on the opposite side of the road.
The proposed route runs along the southside of Herbert St.
At transition points along the route, where the width of the footpath allows, the cycleway would run along short sections of the footpath. This is the safest option for cyclists and uses of the footpath, with the least amount of disruption.
The report to the Council on the cycleway project is on page 51 of the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.
