Rotorua cyclist warns someone will be killed if vehicles keep parking in cycle lanes

A frustrated cyclist fears it will take someone to be seriously hurt or killed before any action is taken against people who park in cycle lanes.

Aaron Gillions, who has been cycling around Rotorua for 14 years, said despite efforts to make Rotorua a cycle city, it was his view cycling had never been so dangerous.

Gillions said the main issue was people were breaking the law by parking in cycle lanes and he believed they weren't being held to account.

In response, the council said it responded to offences if they were reported as they happened.

Parking in special lanes, like cycle lanes, was an offence under the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 Act and carried a $60 fine. The council and police can issue tickets.

Open up the latest news from Rotorua

Get daily headlines from the Rotorua region straight to your inbox.

Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.

Email address

Sign Up

By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

For Gillions, the issue raised its head again during a recent children's league tournament at Puketawhero Park.

Vehicles parked in a cycle lane on Te Ngae Rd during a league tournament. Photo / Supplied

Gillions, who cycles around Lake Rotorua about three times every weekend, was on his usual ride and had to cycle around about 50 vehicles parked on Te Ngae Rd's cycle lanes.

He said cyclists were often travelling up to 50km/h and had to look up and take evasive action to avoid vehicles parked in cycle lanes, pushing cyclists on to the roads with traffic.

Gillions said he had complained to the Rotorua Lakes Council and NZ Transport Agency several times before, including about a trailer parked in a Ngongotahā cycle lane in February, with his main issue being that no one seemed to police the law and issue tickets.

He questioned why millions of dollars were being spent on cycle lanes and improvements when it appeared nothing was being done about those who made the cycle lanes unsafe by parking there.

"Cycle lanes are there for a reason but we seem to get a blind eye turned because there's a tournament on and there's nowhere else to park. But the cycle lane was put there for cyclists, not for parking."

After the latest issue on Te Ngae Rd, he wrote to the council and NZTA expressing his frustration.

In his email, he said there were more than 50 vehicles including a bus parked in the cycle lane on Te Ngae Rd.

A bus and cars parked in Te Ngae Rd's cycle lanes. Photo / Supplied

"While NZTA and council pat themselves on the back for creating cycleways for the safety of cyclists there is little to no enforcement of vehicles that park in the cycle lane," Gillions' email said.

"This is a major safety issue that is ongoing and clearly will take someone being seriously hurt or killed for any action to be taken," the email said.

He suggested yellow lines be painted along the cycle lane to make it more obvious not to park there.

His email asked if cycle lanes were "merely tokenism" so the council could "tick off" a government requirement or had they truly put them there for the safety of cyclists?

The Rotorua Daily Post put Gillions' concerns to the council and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Aaron Gillions is annoyed cars, trucks and trailers park in cycle lanes. Andrew Warner.Photo / Andrew Warner

In a statement, council safe and sustainable journeys manager Niki Carling said the council took the safety of all road users seriously – including cyclists.

Carling said the council responded to reports of vehicles parked illegally as they occurred.

"If someone reports an offence as it is happening, council's parking contractor iPark is sent to attend and potentially issue an infringement notice."

She said safety was part of the Cycling Strategic Plan, which aimed to achieve "a district in which people from all sectors of the community can and do cycle safely for transport and enjoyment".

She said the council's road safety programme included cyclist safety, which aligned with the Government's Road to Zero Road Safety Strategy.

"We provide cycle skills training programmes for school children and seniors and regular promotional campaigns targeted at safe road use for motorists, pedestrians and people using active modes of transport such as bikes, scooters and mobility devices.

"We have also recently undertaken a speed limit review which proposed speed reduction on a number of local roads to improve safety for all users including cyclists."

Carling said the council was seeing an increase in people using different modes of transport.

"With investment by council and Waka Kotahi into more facilities for active mode transport, we encourage motorists to park with consideration of others and their safety. We ask motorists to keep cycle lanes, shared paths and footpaths free for the people who need to use them."

A Waka Kotahi spokeswoman said enforcement depended on the status of the road but, as well as police, local road controlling authorities such as district or city councils appointed parking wardens to issue infringement notices.

She said Waka Kotahi was working with its partners nationwide to deliver a "safer, more accessible and attractive network for cycling and to help drive positive change".

"The safety of all road users is an ongoing priority for Waka Kotahi, supported by the Road to Zero road safety strategy."

Senior Sergeant Simon Sinclair said police could and did issue stationary vehicle notices when the situations arose, however as the sole enforcement agency responsible for the state highways, the police's focus and commitment remained on reducing death and serious injury on state highways.