Transporting Wellington can now reveal Wellington City Council’s radical plan to accommodate cycling lanes in the city centre, including hook turns which are a common sight in Melbourne’s Central Business District.

The Central City Cycling Plan, estimated to cost ratepayers and the NZTA over $35 million, would be implemented throughout the Central Business District before the end of this year.

Proposals in the plan include

Reducing the main waterfront route to two lanes per direction

Hook turns on Taranaki Street and Whitmore Street

New cycleways along Jervous Quay, Waterloo Quay, Customhouse Quay, Cable Street, Wakefield Street, Taranaki Street, Kent Terrace, Cambridge Terrace, Whitmore Street, Bowen Street and Thorndon Quay.

Citywide 10kph speed limit

Significant losses of on-street parking throughout the city center.

How do you perform a hook turn?

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Andy Foster, chairman of the Transport and Urban Development Committee said the cycling plan was key to creating a city for people not cars.

“We could have gone down the route of requiring every vehicle to have a flag bearer in front, but we believed it was far more sensible to have a citywide 10kph speed limit.”

He then said the hook turns were an innovative idea where “we combine both the left and right turn lanes into one. It’s a fantastic quick-win for the people of Wellington”

When questioned about whether cyclists were people or bicycles, Cr Foster stormed out of the room.

Green Party councillors Sarah Free, David Lee and Iona Pannett spoke about how Wellington should treat people on bikes “like Melbourne treats its trams. Finally, people on bikes should be able to gain the respect they have always deserved.”

Iona Pannett added that she likes the idea because “I do not want see a (Basin Reserve) flyover a kilometer away from my backyard.”

Sarah Free liked how the cycleways will be “a cycling expressway for the sole use of people on bikes. It will be fantastic!”

Mayoral candidate Justin Lester said “I’ll do whatever Celia thinks is good for us. My heart is still with the Greens despite running as a Labour candidate.”

Mayor Celia Wade-Brown could not be contacted, however council spokesman Richard McLean said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity to transform the city into a place for people.”

Cycling Advocates Network spokesman, Patrick Morgan, told us “this is a fantastic move to make Wellington a car-free city”

“By making cars the least attractive option for everyone and removing tens of thousands of parking spaces, we can reduce congestion, relieve parking pressure in the city, not to mention doing our part for climate change. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

“Our recent Cycling Advocates Network survey shows 98% of Wellington residents will cycle every day once safer cycling infrastructure is built. Within the next three years, car ownership would have disappeared as the council would have created such a strong social stigma against owning cars”

However, not everybody is happy about the cycling plan.

Despite the New Zealand Transport Agency funding a significant proportion of the Central City Cycling Plan as part of the $100 million Urban Cycleways Programme, it released a statement saying “Wellington City Council’s proposals are inconsistent with plans set out in the Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan 2008”

“The Transport Agency will be withdrawing all funding for roading improvements and maintenance in the Wellington Region”

“We will be actively seeking to reallocate these funds for other nationally significant projects such as bringing forward the construction of road and railway tunnels under the Waitemata Harbour, widening Auckland’s Northern Motorway to 14 lanes and significantly expanding the Central Motorway Junction.”

There will be no public consultation in regards to the Central City Cycling Plan however Cr Foster believed the changes are fair to everyone – including car drivers.

*An earlier edition mistakenly named mayoral candidate Justin Lester as Jason Lester. Transporting Wellington wishes to sincerely apologise for this error.