Getting There - On Foot, By Cycle - Priority 5 Part 2

A strategy to advance walking and cycling in New Zealand transport

February 2005

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Nelson investment in walking and cycling paying dividends 

Nelson City has some of the highest walking and cycling rates in the country - and Nelson City Council is keen to keep it that way.

The Council places a significant focus on providing supportive environments for walking and cycling, and invests accordingly. It is not uncommon for 25% of the Council's Capital Land Transport Programme to go toward walking and cycling facilities.

To support cycling, the Council has provided:

• 18 kilometres of off-road cycle paths and 14 kilometres of on-road cycle lanes, complete with sheltered cycle network maps at regular intervals along the network
• major bridges and underpasses enabling cyclists (and pedestrians) to avoid major new arterial roads
• a quarterly Regional Cycling Forum, and a bimonthly Bicycle Advisory Group to cover more day-to-day issues
• a cycle-crash hotline to gather information on currently unreported cycle crashes and near misses. 

One of the Council's most successful recycling projects has been a highly popular four kilometre Railway Reserve Cycleway in the suburb of Stoke. Broadgreen Intermediate School, which borders the Cycleway, has seen a significant increase in cycling, with 60% of its 750 students cycling to school in 2003. Houses alongside the cycleway have reaped an estimated $20 000 valuation premium. Earlier concerns about crime have been replaced by an appreciation of the extra surveillance provided by increased walking and cycling.

A major pedestrian focus for the Council has been the City's 'Central Area', including much of its central business district. Since the early 1990s, this area has received a comprehensive upgrade. A central area ring road system was created with signalised crossings to help pedestrians cross. Significant traffic calming has also been undertaken inside the ring roads, including installation of speed tables, landscaping and tree planting to reduce traffic speeds from 40-50 kilometres per hour to 30-40 kilometres per hour. A 'Safer Routes' project, begun in 2004, is enhancing this further - gauging how pedestrians feel about the Central Area street environment, and providing the Council with information on safety and access issues.

Already, this project has led to re-positioning of street light arms to avoid having matured trees block footpath lighting, and tactile pavings to aid visually impaired people at street-crossing points such as speed tables.

Both walking and cycling will benefit from a 'Safe Journeys to School' project operating in two schools, and the Council is also keeping an eye on new developments in the city, developing district plan rules that will enable it to require linkages to reduce distances for pedestrians and cyclists.

Statistics show these efforts are paying off. For example, walking to work in Nelson increased from 9.1% of all journeys to work in 1996 to 10% in 2001 (the 2001 national average was 7.1%). Nelson also maintained its high percentage of cycle-to-work trips (7.6% of all journeys to work) between 1996 and 2001, giving it the highest such figure in New Zealand (the 2001 national average was 1.8%). At the same time, safety also appears to be improving, with the number of reported road crashes involving cyclists falling between 1999 and 2003 from 33 to 20 and those involving pedestrians from 24 to 11.


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• Walking and Cycling as strategy launched

Download the:

• Strategy Document (PDF v7.0, 2156kb) 
• Questions and Answers (PDF v7.0, 35kb) 
• Report on Consultation (PDF v7.0, 200kb)