Motueka people urged to give cycling a go in February

January 30th, 2011
[by David Armstrong]

Motueka is flat, not too busy (most of the time), and has weather ideally suit to outdoor activities. So why not get around more often by bike? That's the local flavour of the message from the organisers of this year's Bike Wise events to be held throughout New Zealand during February.

Tasman District Council is promoting Bike Wise events in our district. They say you don’t have to wear lycra and you don't have to cycle endless kilometres to take part in one of the many free and fun activities happening during the month.

The first Bike Wise activities to take place are the 'Go by Bike Day' breakfasts. These are being held at various locations around the Tasman District and anyone out and about on their bike that morning will receive a free breakfast snack. Such a breakfast will be held in Motueka outside the museum on Wednesday 16 February. The breakfasts will run from 7.30am – 9.30am.

There will also be a Family Fun Ride in Motueka, similar to previous years. This rides are open to all cyclists from young to old and each ride has different length routes to suit all abilities of cyclist.

The Motueka Family Fun Ride takes place on Sunday 27 February, leaving from the Skate Park on Old Wharf Road at 1.00pm. Cyclists can either choose from a short route of approximately 4kms long or a longer route of approximately 11kms long.

Cycling in Motueka has a "political" facet. In recent years advocacy for more facilities for cyclists in and around Motueka has grown, and much work has been done on several walkways which also serve cyclists, plus the cycle lane out through Lower Moutere amongst other prepared roadside surfaces for cyclists.

TDC was urged by the previous Community Board to publish a strategy and do further work to develop cycleways, but by mid-2010 nothing had yet been published as policy work focused on the Transportation Study and the Central & West Structure Plan.

The Motueka Community Board at a meeting late in 2010 formally requested TDC's Engineering Services Department to mark a cycle lane along the east side of High Street from Woodland Ave to Monahan St. It would be a marked, shared pathway, the cycle lane to be 1.5m from the kerb and the remaining 2.5m from the residential boundary line as footpath. The expected cost would be about $5000, but no response to this has yet been seen.

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