Journey to completion of cycleway

PEDAL PATH: The yellow line shows the path for the cycleway from Upokongaro village to Pauls Rd on the city boundary.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Joining another link in the Mountains to the Sea cycleway is nearer with the Whanganui District Council calling tenders for the 7km stretch from Upokongaro to Whanganui city.

The tender, which closes at the end of July, involves designing the cycleway, securing the necessary consents, negotiating with any affected landowners as well as maintaining the path for a three-year period.

The route will follow State Highway 4 from Upkongaro village to Pauls Road a distance of about 7km. For the most part the track will be on the right-hand side of the highway but near the white bridge it may cross the highway to move to left-hand side of the road.

Leighton Toy, council's deputy property manager, said the final alignment of the pathway will be subject to the contractor's detailed design and then council's final approval.

"The cycleway is proposed to follow the alignment of the road on the riverside from Upokongaro to Whites Bridge.

"It may then either cross the road underneath the bridge or remain on the riverside of the road.

"We're going to wait until the tenderers submit detailed designs as their proposals will form part of our decision-making process," Mr Toy said.

He said the main issue with the Riverbank Road residents has been resolved.

Those home owners objected to the earlier plan which had the route running between the Whanganui River and their homes. At a meeting last year council confirmed this route would not be considered.

Council has budgeted $680,000 as its share of the cycleway project over a four-year period which started in the 2015-16 financial year.

The bulk of the funding will come from the Government and its agencies such as NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).

Meanwhile NZTA was carrying out safety improvements between River Rd and Upokongaro at no cost to ratepayers.

The completed cycleway will join up with the final leg from Taupo Quay to the North Mole.