Complaints Napier cycleway cracking only a month after completion

Cracks and damage to the Kennedy Rd cycleway just one month after its completion. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Napier resident has queried why a newly built cycleway along Kennedy Rd has cracked just a month after completion.

Michael Eno said some cycleway users had resorted to using the footpath or the busy road, himself included.

"Not all of them, but most of them, tend to use the existing roadway or the footpath and when I questioned a few of them, including mobility scooter users, they said that they don't like the surface," Eno said.

"It's bumpy as opposed to the footpath which is smooth and the road is also smooth. It just seems to negate the whole purpose of having a cycleway so they could be separated from the pedestrians, so we could all enjoy it.

"One man I spoke to on a mobility scooter said he was so looking forward to it, but he can't even use it because it's too bumpy."

Eno said the reason for the different surface of the cycleway was so there could be appropriate signage for Kennedy Rd's iconic palm trees.

"The water can permeate through and then feed the trees, but it seems like the water was going down into the concrete and is going no further."

Eno, who is in his 70s, is a passionate cyclist and uses the footpath when biking, only veering onto the cycleway to avoid pedestrians.

"Recently I saw at one particular point there was a deterioration on the surface which was breaking out and I thought 'what the heck is going on here?'."

"I enjoy cycleways, I think they're a wonderful thing, I use them, I enjoy the sea front in particular especially when going past the aquarium, I love it. I'm all for cycleways providing its done in the appropriate way, the appropriate cost and the appropriate manner."

A Napier City Council spokesperson said they had not received any complaints about the Kennedy Rd cycleway, but they would follow up on the reports of damage.