Editorial: Give Green Corridor a go

The Green Corridor could be a step in the right direction for Rotorua.

There's nothing better than Rotorua on a sunny spring day.

I was lucky enough to get out of the office for a quick walk yesterday and was stunned by the activity, colour and liveliness of the central city on a Monday.

I even watched people using the much-maligned Green Corridor, which will be officially opened to the public on Thursday with a street parade finishing at Kuirau Park.

As a friend and I watched people passing by and crossing the road at the Tutanekai and Pukuatua Street intersection we noticed something rather interesting.

Drivers were slowing down, and some were stopping, to let people cross the road where the tarmac had been painted green at the point where the Green Corridor crosses the road.

We both remarked that it seemed drivers were making way and sharing the space with pedestrians and other footpath users with few problems and smiles on most of their faces.

I've said previously that I had my doubts about the Green Corridor, but was prepared to give it a chance.

The city can't afford to rest on its laurels and has to stand out if it is to keep its head above water in the future.

After all, we are competing with the rest of the country for the lucrative tourism dollar.

What will our point of difference be?

I'm not saying the Green Corridor is the answer to all of the inner-city's problems, but it could be a step in the right direction.

It's not as if the council has broken the bank spending $170,000 on the project, with an additional $227,000 coming from the New Zealand Transport Agency.

The agency obviously thought it was a good idea.

I would encourage all the nay-sayers to at least give it a go and see what happens over summer. Keeping in mind it probably won't be a huge attraction this summer season but when word gets around that Rotorua is a safe city for cyclists, with courteous drivers and other road users, it certainly has the potential to be a boon to the city.