This Sunday Quay Street will be opened up for people walking and cycling for the Open Streets event. Last year the event was a bit awkward with all the staged activities being shunted to the footpath while the street remained relatively empty. This year it seems like some of the details have been better sorted. For one thing the route is extended a little further east to Tangihua Street nearly connecting up to the Beach Road cycleway. Also, the trains will be running this year so people can ride to their nearest station to get to the event.
In addition to opening up the street to better connect with the waterfront and Viaduct area there are lots of complementary activities including city bike tours, bike maintenance classes, and guided walks.
One thing to prepare for on Sunday is CAA’s Bike Gang event. People are encouraged to round up their friends, neighbours or other associates to represent during the event. The Transport Blog will be participating. Look for Matt on rollerblades. CAA will also have an instant photo booth for people to document and share the moment across social media.
For more information about the sub-event visit the Facebook page. And if you case you haven’t yet, this is a good time to visit CAA’s flash new website that includes refreshing perspectives of people and cycling in the city.
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AND THAT’S WHY PEOPLE HATE CYCLISTS – THEY ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. MUPPETS!
Is that a joke? I suspect not, given that your only other contributions to this blog have been equally shouty and ranty. In which case perhaps the mods could nudge you out.
Why is it children always forget to take the caps lock off?
…and thats why gentle readers, people hate those who use nothing but all caps and then have nothing to contribute in a civil way when they do deign to write anything.
For the record the muppet is you.
That road where the cyclist are was closed off to general traffic last year for the same event. The cyclists are correctly using the appropriate side of the ride for the event.
The road to right of the picture which is barricaded off, that you think is the one they should be using is still in use by cars in a bi-directional manner (1 lane each way) to access the adjacent hotel and was segregated like this for the reason of safety.
ok it’s dinner time and trolls need to eat too, but this is an all you can eat buffet.
Are the complementary events also complimentary?
Indeed they are.
Disappointed they’re only closing half of Quay Street. Half Open Streets doesn’t have the same ring
Yes more like half-arsed open streets.
If it’s like last year both sides of the street were closed from around the ferry building to about Britomart Place. It was just a huge empty space where I had great fun involving silliness with brakes and tyres and no need to worry about the need for robust and frank discussions with the coppers or lorry drivers. In the event only half the strreet is closed I’d suggest that you could shift the barriers to suit. Not really a ciclovia without some element of repurposing the road for cyclists and pedestrians.
AT will also be running a CRL station design showcase in QE2 square from Saturday to Wednesday:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1504/S00203/city-rail-link-design-showcase.htm
Yes and here’s one of the images from it and which accompanied the press release. I’ve seen the others and they’re well worth looking at (embargo’d for now).
Rollerblades, is that your idea of a sense of humour Kent?
This is wonderful news, but I wish I’d known a lot earlier (for professional reasons). Does anyone know when this was decided, by whom, and when the news was first made public? Is this going to happen more in the future (I certainly hope so)?
The AT Website says “Road closures: Northern lanes of Quay Street (b/t Lower Hobson St & Tinley St).” I prsume this means the southern lanes will be open to traffic.
https://at.govt.nz/about-us/news-events/events-causing-delays/
what an anticlimax. They certainly implied it was a car less space – but it wasn’t. Ut was so unsafe as many pedestrians didn’t realise the road was open to traffic. Shame because it could’ve been great.
Yes. But it was so crowded that the next will time surely be able to get the whole street closed. What traffic there was could easily have been on Customs St.
AT’s traffic engineers will have to be stared down [again].
Yes but I really don’t understand how could somebody organize something so half arsed. Not enough room on footpath for everyone, half road with crammed activities and then half road with sightseeing traffic.
Fear of a disgruntled driver. Driver priority is traffic engineers’ religion. Also model is ‘predict and provide’ and they still can’t predict anything other than heaps of driving and very little interest in any other mode.
To be fair last time was quieter, but PT wasn’t running then, lots turned up by rail this year. But that still doesn’t absolve them from not understanding that this kind of street use is entirely consistent with the Auckland Plan and therefore should be fully opened up to the Active modes on a ‘decide and provide’ basis; build it and they will come. And they did.
They come every single time. You’d think AT would’ve learned this by now.
You forgot to mention the guard employed to hold back and tell off pedestrians at the crossing. Of course with zero actual Police to catch the ubiquitous red light running drivers I saw.
The way the road was set up it was totally cramped for pedestrians but even more like a drag strip than usual for drivers.
The Japanday thing at the cloud was adding to the crowds, but it was weird; no room left on the footpath, and the cycle area was being squeezed while the (few) cars were moving fast; my family wandered over the road at one stage and had to hastily get out of the way of an SUV driver moving fast. 🙁
Could not see any reason for it not to be totally closed off for a just 1 day.
Still needed better communication though – there was a queue of cars from Fanshaw street trying to get down to Quay, and I didn’t see much in the way of signage. In fact chatting to people at work today, I seem to have been one of the few to even know it was it on, so the crowds (on a not that sunny day) were impressive.
“Could not see any reason for it not to be totally closed off for a just 1 day.” – Because civilisation will come to an end, the rivers will run with blood and the Beast will rise to crush mankind under its cleft hoof.
The end of times will be nigh.
Other than that, no reason really.
“didn’t see much in the way of signage.”
Well the Gigantic Variable Message Sign on Nelson St that goes right across the road said quite clearly “Event Quay Street Closed until 7pm” hard to miss or to understand.
Maybe those folks from the Harbour Bridge didn’t see it if they came along Fanshawe – but I’d expect the same on the Motorway signs before Fanshawe off ramp pointing that out too.
In any case, the left hand slip lane from Customs onto Quay was all coned off with “Road closed” signs. Forcing all traffic down Customs.
As I wasn’t on that side of the road can’t comment if their were mobile signs along that part of Fanshawe advising it was closed or not.
There was plenty of signage on the motorways, including the northern 🙂
I live on the shore you insensitive clod 🙂
I knew it was on obviously and brought the family along to the Japanday/road closure, but from the Shore, didn’t see a lot of signage such as trailer mounted traffic signs, until I ran into the end of the queue of cars on Fanshaw/Hobson/Market street intersection.
Not a problem; I just popped into the nearest car park building but thought that most events like this had more signage.
First time to attend this event and my kids loved it! Many people attended the event, but people traffic was not solely because of this event. Japan day was also on. But yeah, it would be neat if both lanes are closed. One lane for bikes and other lane for the booths.