Pathway will link Whanganui East with city network, Gonville next in line

Work has begun on the unsealed pathway and will be replaced by a 3m wide concrete path. Photo / Logan Tutty

Work to create a pedestrian and cycling link between Whanganui East and the city's growing shared pathway network is under way.

The five-week work programme involves the conversion of an unsealed pathway on top of the stopbanks through Kowhai Park, from opposite Georgetti Rd to the park's playground entrance facing Nile St.

The 750m stretch of unsealed pathway will be converted into a mostly 3m wide concrete path.

The widened pathway will make it easier for cyclists and pedestrians to share the path and will create a circuit between the Whanganui City Bridge, where people can link up with other pathways, and Dublin Street Bridge.

The majority of shared pathways funding comes from the New Zealand Transport Agency's Urban Cycleways Fund and the Government's National Land Transport Fund.

Although sections of the existing unsealed pathway will be closed at times, pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to use the existing Kowhai Park roadway.

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Alternatively, pedestrians can also use the footpath along Anzac Parade.

The total work is expected to take about five weeks.

In September, construction will begin on a 1.1km shared pathway along State Highway 3.

This pathway will run from London St, to Smithfield Rd, down Brooking St, through the reserve and onto Alma Rd where it links to Abbot St.

This section of pathway is designed to link the suburb of Gonville to the shared pathway circuit.