Councillors Hit the Streets to Get Cyclists View

Tomorrow, Hastings District Councillors will put the pedal to the metal to get an appreciation for how cyclist -friendly the city’s streets really are.

As part of a workshop on the Hastings bid for a $7 million New Zealand Transport Agency Model Community fund, councillors will be buckling up their helmets and lacing up their walking shoes and heading out into the city.

Media are welcome to join councillors or take photos at the start of their journey when they gather outside the Council Chambers on Lyndon Road at 1pm, Thursday April 22.

Hastings is one of four finalists selected from 22 towns interested in the Model Community opportunity, which would see Hastings become a cycling and walking demonstration town for other urban areas in New Zealand.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule the district will lead the way in encouraging people to get out of their cars and choose to walk or cycle when they go on short trips.

“Hastings is the perfect location for this project – we have a warm climate, it’s flat and the scenery along the way is stunning.

“The average car journey in Hastings is just 5km and with petrol prices set to spike again we need to make it easier for people to leave their car at home,” Mayor Yule says.

Hastings District Council is currently working with a variety of local agencies which support the bid and will put in a submission towards the end of this month.

NZTA expects to make a decision in June.

“This is a great opportunity to improve our cycling and walking infrastructure and be the foremost walking and cycling friendly centre in New Zealand. This is about long-term behaviour change from driving to work or school to using more sustainable forms of transport,” he says.

“We want the entire community to get behind this bid, which could see massive improvements to our road and off-road networks.”

“Many councillors got on their bikes during Bike Wise month but this is another great opportunity for them to see exactly what needs to be done to convince people to leave their cars at home,” Mayor Yule says.

As part of the bid Hastings has to show what it is currently doing to improve non-vehicle transport networks and what projects it plans to roll out with the funding.

The Hastings Cycle Strategy Group, run by Council, already has a number of runs on the board with improvements to roundabouts to make it safer for cyclists, clip-on bridges so cyclists and cars are not competing for space and extensions to the Rotary Pathway linkages.

“This funding will help join-the-dots between existing infrastructure,” Mayor Yule says.