MP upset by traffic speed controls

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman. Photo / NZME.

Health Minister says raised road tables to slow cars for safe cycling route to Northcote Point are unnecessary.

Plans for traffic-slowing platforms on Northcote Point's main street have irked Health Minister Jonathan Coleman, although most parking spaces previously threatened by a bikeway scheme will be preserved.

Auckland Transport says instead of removing 150 parks from a 5.2km safe cycling route from Smales Farm to the Northcote Pt ferry terminal, only 14 spaces need to go.

But those will make way for seven raised road tables in Queen St, Northcote, over which cars will have to slow down while leaving cyclists free passage beside them.

Dr Coleman, who is the MP for Northcote and lives on Queen St, sees no need for the tables on a road he says carries little traffic and is already safe for cyclists.

The leisure cyclist, who also holds the Cabinet's sports and recreational portfolio, is pleased residents' parking concerns have been "partially listened to" but disappointed they were not consulted on the speed tables.

"They are suddenly, without any consultation, going to introduce a whole lot of defacing traffic-calming measures, which are just totally unnecessary," he said.

"Cars will come up to them, brake, then accelerate off them - it's a nightmare."

"It's good for there to be safe cycling, but parts of this - especially the Queen St stuff - are unnecessary because cycling there is already safe."

He also queried extending the route all the way to what he called a limited-use ferry terminal, and said that the $33.5 million walking and cycling Skypath proposal across the harbour bridge was not a guaranteed connection.

Independent commissioners are due to open a planning hearing for that project at Auckland Town Hall this morning.

Auckland Transport's initial plan to remove 150 parking spaces was opposed by 58 per cent of almost 800 submitters. As well as reducing the take to 14 spaces, it intends adding 10 more in adjoining Rodney Rd.

Kaipatiki Local Board transport spokesman Richard Hills sees the modified plan as "a really good compromise" which he hopes will address most concerns while encouraging more people to cycle or walk through his community.

He says he is finding strong local support for the overall Smales Farm-Northcote Pt cycling route.

"It's not just about Jonathan Coleman's street - it's about the whole of Northcote," he said.

"If we only focused on Queen St it might seem an odd thing, but it's about a wider route right across Northcote.

"It's a really good investment by Auckland Transport and the [Government's] Transport Agency potentially funding in our area which I would have thought Jonathan Coleman would have been happy with."

He said the project was in line with a big push by the Government and Auckland for better cycling infrastructure, and was not just about "getting from A to B".

From Smales Farm to Northcote Pt

• 5.2km of on- and off-road cycling tracks and shared pedalling-pedestrian paths from Taharoto Rd to Northcote Pt ferry terminal.
• Cost will be about $4 million.
• Construction to start mid-2016.