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Background: The Takapuna to Devonport cycle lanes have been under construction since July 2007 and are now substantially complete. In the period since the cycle lanes became operational both support for and objections to the cycle lanes have been expressed in many phone calls, by email messages, in written correspondence, and in the local newspapers in letters to the editors and in news articles. At the Board meeting on 11th December the Board members of the public concerned about the newly installed cycle lanes were invited to express their concerns. Council officers were available to respond to concerns and questions. In recognition of mounting concerns the officers presented an Action Plan to address issues raised. This is reproduced below. Devonport to Takapuna Cycle Lane
Following receipt of this plan the Board resolved: THAT THE DEVONPORT COMMUNITY BOARD SUPPORTS THE ACTION PLAN FOR OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS TO THE DEVONPORT TO TAKAPUNA CYCLELANE PRESENTED AT THE MEETING, AND THAT THE ISSUE BE REVIEWED AT THE MARCH MEETING OF THE WORKS COMMITTEE. A report on the cycle lanes was taken to the Works and Environment committee meeting on the 13th March 2008, and at this a member of the public who is opposed to the cycle lane and who had previously presented a petition to this effect to His Worship the Mayor, was able to speak in support of the petition. Following this the Committee resolved:
Action Plan Extensive preliminary work has been done on the Action Plan and this is being refined. When completed, this will be presented to the Board, with recommendations for implementing further improvements to benefit general traffic flows along the length of the new cycle lanes. Item 2 of the Action Plan, the upgrading of the pedestrian crossing signals outside Takapuna Grammar School has been considered essential and is under construction. Item 6 , the enforcement of no parking is now operational and infringement notices are being issued. Item 7 has been completed Items1,3,4 and 5 are being addressed. Queuing and delays to general traffic There have been several causes for increased queuing and delays since construction of the cycle lanes began in July 2007. These have been: -Temporary traffic management for the implementation work, in lane marking and kerb alterations. Temporary traffic management measures, particularly those for kerb alterations south of Old Lake Road and south of Winscombe Street contributed to queuing and delays during installation of the cycle lanes. - Malfunctioning of the existing traffic signal controller at the Winscombe/Bardia intersection. Shortly after the installation of the cycle lanes through the Winscombe/Bardia intersection (on 19th November 2007) the traffic signals at that intersection were found to be malfunctioning. This was established to be the primary reason for exceptional delays occurring over several days. This fault was reported to the Traffic Management Unit who eventually repaired the fault and since that time has been monitoring the operation of the signals. - Road Opening for alterations to underground services that are unrelated to the cycle lane installation. There have been Road Openings on Lake Road that contributed to queuing and delays in November 2007. One of these was immediately south of Hauraki Corner where Vector undertook some emergency work on their gas main. - Reconfiguration of traffic lanes in the vicinity of the Winscombe/Bardia intersection. Lake Road between Hauraki Corner and Devonport has been marked for one general traffic lane in each direction, except at the traffic signal installations at the Winscombe/Bardia Street and Belmont shops where two stacking lanes have been provided on the approaches. Immediately beyond these intersections the two lanes have merged back to a single lane over a length of 40 metres. This arrangement has been largely unchanged since traffic signals were installed at the Winscombe/Bardia intersection in the mid 1980’s. The only minor changes that have been made since then are the progressive installation of “No Stopping at All Times” along the route. The kerb to kerb width of Lake Road over the remaining sections of the Lake Road away from the intersections was not wide enough to install two lanes in each direction (to meet the Austroads safety standards). However between Winscombe Street and School Road at Belmont the southbound traffic has often operated as two lanes during peak hours. This manner of operation was informal and probably illegal. It appeared to provide greater traffic throughput but at a lower safety level, and at generally lower driving speeds than for single lane operation. The informal two lane operation was not possible when cars were parked between Winscombe Street and School Road, a distance of nearly 200 metres. The informal operation was also interrupted whenever southbound traffic waited in the outside lane to turn right into Bardia Street. This was because the right southbound lane was marked for both through and right turning traffic. Installation of the cycle lanes has involved changing the traffic lane configuration in the vicinity of the Wiscombe/Bardia Street intersection to provide space for the kerbside cycle lanes within the existing road carriageway. These changes provide for a single through traffic lane in each direction, and a dedicated right turn lane for traffic entering Winscombe Street from the south and Bardia Street from the north. Impact on general traffic. The previous informal two lanes southbound provided substandard lane widths which were unsafe and this project provided the opportunity to rectify the problem. The impact that these changes are having on the flow of general traffic has been the subject of debate ever since they were put into effect on 19 November 2007. During the investigation stage for the cycle lanes, a traffic modelling exercise was carried out to assess the impact of reconfiguring the traffic lanes as described above. The modelling indicated a minor increase in the average queue length during the evening peak of up to 21 vehicles. It is important to note that this increase is for the average queue length and that within the peak period on occasions the increased queue length would be expected to considerably exceed 21 vehicles. It is also important to note that the modelling did not reflect the two lane southbound informal operation of Lake Road. There is little doubt that initially the new traffic lane configuration caused some additional queuing and delays to general traffic in November 2007. However since that time improvements to the operation of the traffic signals has restored traffic capacity through the intersection to similar levels to that existing before the installation of the cycle lanes. This has been confirmed by a before and after traffic study. Before and After Traffic Study A before and after traffic study has focussed on the passage of traffic through the Lake Road/Bardia Street/Winscombe Street intersection. This is the pinch point where the traffic lanes have been reconfigured to include cycle lanes. As it happens there is a permanent traffic counting station outside Takapuna Grammar School. This is some 350 metres from Bardia and Winscombe Streets and therefore affords a very good indication of the traffic passing through the intersection. The traffic counts are the northbound and southbound traffic volumes recorded continuously (24/7) for every 15 minute interval. This provides a good means of comparison of traffic flows through the Lake/Bardia/Winscombe traffic signals before and after the installation of the cycle lanes. From traffic counts taken after the installation of the cycle lanes we have established that the maximum was 363 vehicles per quarter hour southbound in the evening week day peak period. This peak period has been taken as the 90 minute period from 1700 to 1830 hours. We have taken this count of 363 vehicles per quarter hour to be the maximum practical capacity southbound through the intersection, after the completion of efficiency gains achieved by re-phasing the traffic signals. We have compared this maximum capacity with all the quarter hour periods in the evening peak period over the 7 month period February to August 2007 (before the cycle lanes were installed). By this means we are effectively re-running last years traffic to see how often the current capacity would have been exceeded. The outcome was that the average peak period quarter hour traffic flow was 301 vehicles which is significantly below the current capacity and that the current capacity would have been exceeded on 17 occasions. This amounts to less than 2% of the total number of quarter hour periods recorded in the evening peak period over 7 months in 2007. In a similar exercise carried out in the northbound direction, the evening peak period was found to be earlier than for southbound traffic. This was found to be for the 90 minute period from 1600 to 1750 hours and the earlier time than for the south bound peak is attributable to the naval dockyard day finishing at 1600 hours. The maximum traffic count recorded in this direction after the installation of the cycle lanes was 351 vehicles per quarter hour. In the same manner as above this has been taken to be the maximum practical capacity northbound through the intersection after the completion of efficiency gains by re-phasing the traffic signals. The outcome for northbound traffic is that the average peak period quarter hour traffic flow over the 7 months of records in 2007 was 283 vehicles. Again is significantly below the current capacity. However the current capacity would have been exceeded on 67 occasions and this represents 8% of the total number of quarter hour periods recorded in the evening peak period over 7 months in 2007. The conclusion from this analysis is that although there has been some loss of capacity for traffic through the Lake/Bardia/Winscombe intersection, the existing capacity is capable of handling by far the greater portion of the periods of peak traffic demand. The Action Plan referred to above will contain proposals designed to further increase the general traffic capacity along the whole length of the road corridor from Hauraki Corner to Belmont. Travel time Since the last week in November 2007 both Traffic Management Unit (TMU) staff and council officers have monitored traffic flow at intervals and driven the length of the cycle lane, at least as far as Belmont and recorded travel times. At no time were any significant delays experienced. Of 12 trips made by the TMU from Hauraki Corner to Belmont the longest elapsed time from Hauraki Corner to Belmont was 5 min 48 seconds. Green Route The green cycle route from Victoria Road in Devonport to Esmonde Road is becoming popular and appears to be used by some commuters and students as well as recreational cyclists. A comparison has been made of trip times on the Lake Road cycle lanes with the alternative green route.
The much longer trip time for the green route is attributable to some very steep sections, a tortuous and longer alignment, two narrow bridges over tidal reaches and surfaces unsuited for road bikes. For these reasons the green route will never be an attractive alternative to most commuter and training cyclists. However, given the popularity of this route for some users, improvements such as the provision of separate bridges for cyclists, and smooth surface finish are worthy of investigation for inclusion in future funding provisions. The green route is more attractive to Bayswater cyclists, because the distance differential is less than for the Devonport to Takapuna route. Cycle Counts Cycle counts have been taken on Lake Road at the pedestrian crossing outside Takapuna Grammar School. The table below shows the first such count taken in March 2007 and the provisional results of the repeat count in March 2008.
The Takapuna to Devonport cycle route is the North Shore’s premier cycle route and the increased cycle count demonstrates a high uptake of cyclists on this newly completed cycle lane. The increases shown far exceed the 20% first year increase in cycle trips allowed by Land Transport New Zealand for the calculation of benefits of newly installed cycle lanes. The Lake Road cycle lanes show between 2 and 3 times the benefits allowed by LTNZ. Safety The cycle lanes have been designed in accordance with New Zealand and Australian Standards and prevailing international best practice. Achieving lower accident figures through the application of better safety provisions is important for council whilst providing cycle lanes is acknowledged to be a significant step forwards in this respect. The completed designs have passed through a multi-stage safety audit procedure as required by best practice and by both ARTA and LTNZ, the subsidy providers. A post construction safety audit is being undertaken and the findings from this will be available shortly. All correspondence related to safety has been given to the post construction safety auditor for review and comment.
Date: 19 March 2008 |
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