Source: Radio New Zealand
Two vehicles parked on the cycle lane on Orly Avenue near Māngere town centre. RNZ / Luka Forman
A South Auckland man who was hit by a car while cycling believes drivers illegally parking on cycle lanes is a safety issue in the area.
He said during busy periods some cycle lanes were clogged up with cars, forcing cyclists onto the road or footpath.
A cycling advocacy group said it was an issue right across Auckland.
Māngere man Selwyn Lilley knows the danger cars pose to cyclists – he was hit by one while coming around a roundabout near Māngere town centre on his bike.
“This car came up from Bader Drive and collected me. So I was lucky… got out of it with just with a couple of cracked ribs and a chipped pelvis. But I spent three weeks on crutches.”
Lilley no longer cycled for fear of being hit again.
There were now several cycleways covering the area around Māngere town centre, but Lilley said drivers parking over the lanes were causing problems for cyclists.
Some days it might be one or two cars, he said, but on busy weekends or when there was an event on nearby, whole streets could be clogged up.
“If you have car after car after car where the road is pretty busy. They don’t take any notification. Then they honk at you and say ‘use the cycle lane that’s what it’s been built for’.
“Most people would turn around and say ‘hey, we’ll use the cycle lane but you cars are in the way’.”
Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina. RNZ / Felix Walton
Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina said part of the problem was that there were not enough carparks for families living in new apartments in the area.
“You’ll see a lot of the cars parking on the verge, because they don’t have sufficient car parks … especially when you’ve got multiple families in there.”
“Hopefully we’ll have an alternative – I know they want to get people out of their cars but when you’ve got the car that’s for all the family members, there’s no option.”
Filipaina wanted a community campaign to encourage people to make use of the cycle lanes in the area.
“Let’s use some of our community people to sort of let them know the benefits. But also realise that sometimes we just can’t get the bikes for the kids for them to use the cycle lanes.”
Co-chair of Bike Auckland Karen Hormann said people parking on bike lanes was a problem right across the city.
“It’s forcing people riding bikes, expecting the protection of a cycleway, to be forced out into the traffic. It’s actually really unsafe.”
Co-chair of Bike Auckland Karen Hormann. Supplied
It was important to keep on top of the issue because getting people onto different modes of transport was the only way to improve congestion in Auckland, she said.
“Auckland is very congested. And drivers are getting frustrated. They’re also parking on footpaths and berms and blocking people’s access. We really need to allow for all of these different mobility modes.”
Auckland Transport (AT) head of transport and parking compliance, Rick Bidgood, said enforcement with consequences was the only real way to deal with the problem. The fine for parking on a cycle lane was $70.
As cycling was relatively new to Auckland compared to European cities, it would take time for people to recognise it as a real form of transport, Bidgood said.
AT head of active modes Tania Loveridge said when the new stretches of cycleway were being built in Mangere, it ran a targeted communications campaign edcuating people about changes to parking.
There had been an average five percent growth per year in cycling across Auckland over the past three years, Loveridge said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
