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Te Ara Rimu - Kihikihi pathway

Upcoming works:

Works

Timeline

Oliver Street, between Whitmore and Bryce Streets

Underway – November

Bryce St and Grey St cul-de-sacs early November - December

In December 2022, it was announced safe walking and cycling in Kihikihi had been given a massive boost.

Waka Kotahi – NZ Transport Agency has invested close to $17.4 million in our district from their Climate Emergency Response Fund, to offer more transport choices and help people opt safely out of cars. Of that, $5.64 million will be spent on a new shared pathway in Kihikihi with an additional $2.4 million from Council funding.

The new pathway will help children get to school safely, create safer streets, and encourage people to walk, bike, or scooter.

Kihikihi told us through the Waipā Transport Strategy and Kihikihi Urban Development Plan that they wanted to slow traffic, improve safety at intersections, and increase opportunities for walking, cycling, and other modes of travel.

Before we started building the pathway, we ran a traffic survey on Rolleston Street in April–May 2023 and the results showed us that:

  • Heavy vehicles only account for 0.7 percent of traffic
  • Medium sized commercial vehicles account for 7.8 percent of traffic
  • The majority of traffic were small vehicles at 91.5 percent
  • 2260 vehicles travel on Rolleston Street daily, that’s an average of 1.5 cars every minute.

We have heard your questions about whether the road is wide enough for bigger vehicles and hope the graphic below here will help.

Heavy vehicles: That exceed 3.1m in width require a pilot vehicle and should use State Highway 3/Lyon Street.

Parking: Rolleston Street will have 16 allocated carparks and Whitmore Street will have 14 allocated carparks.

Berm maintenance: We have got you covered! Our team will mow the new grass berms.

Who is paying: New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi provided $5.64 million for the pathway as part of its programme to create more transport choices. We contributed the remaining $2.4 million, which was budgeted for following consultation on the 2021-2023 Long Term Plan.

Construction

We’re building a new pathway down Rolleston, Whitmore and Oliver streets and making some changes to the street layouts to make it safer for our local tamariki to get to school.

Work began on the pathway on 11 October and is expected to completed in November 2024. We’ll be doing it in stages to minimise disruption as much as we can.

Current works

A section of Rolleston Street will be under stop/go traffic management between Bryce and Grey Streets, from Monday, 4 November for approximately five weeks. This closure will be in place so we can permanently close off Grey and Bryce Streets to form cul-de-sacs.

The cul-de-sacs will reduce the number of intersections on Rolleston Street and the number of cars crossing the pathway, making it safer for people using the pathway. Cul-de-sacs also create quieter streets and neighbourhoods and provides the community free space at the end of the streets.

Grey Street and Bryce Street will be closed between Hall Street and Rolleston Street - residents, service providers and visitors will continue to have access.

Please allow an additional five minutes for your journey, to allow for minor delays when travelling along Rolleston Street.

We need to close Oliver Street in two stages from Wednesday 2 October to continue construction on the new pathway and upgrade the footpaths.

This pathway will complete the connected paths to Kihikihi Domain, help children get to school independently, and create neighbourhoods where everyone can move around safely, easily and affordably in ways that contribute to good health and community well-being. It will provide opportunities for people to walk and cycle which helps decrease congestion, reduces emissions, and makes our transport system safer for everyone.

Construction will be completed in two stages and will take approximately eight weeks to complete.

For the first stage of construction, which will take around four weeks, we need to close Oliver Street between Bryce and Grey Streets. For the second stage, which is also estimated to take four weeks, we need to close Oliver Street between Grey and Whitmore Streets.

While construction is taking place, you as residents, along with all service providers and visitors will continue to have access to your property. A member of our crew will be on-site should you or anyone else needs assistance.

What to expect

The hours of work will be from 7am to 6pm during weekdays and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.

We will make it a priority that residents maintain access to their property.

The construction is expected to be complete by around November 2024 and will include:

  • Two new roundabouts
  • Approximately 2km of cycle path and footpath
  • New parking bays
  • Cul-de-sac construction
  • New kerb and channel and stormwater drainage, street lighting and landscaping
  • Bus stops
  • Raised safety platforms for road crossings, including a signalised pedestrian crossing over Whitmore Street.

We understand that construction can be noisy, and we will do our best to minimise disruption to the community. We apologise for any inconvenience caused during this time, and we’ll do our best to complete the work as efficiently as possible.

View Te Ara Rimu, Kihikihi pathway detailed map

Te Ara Rimu, Kihikihi maps

A closer look at the pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs

Creating a cul-de-sac involves closing off the road at one end so there is no option for motor vehicles to access Rolleston Street or Whitmore Street. They are essentially no exit streets.

Creating a safer pathway

Council believes the pedestrian mall and cul-de-sac options are a critical part of our pathway construction as they mean we can reduce the number of intersections on Rolleston and Whitmore Streets. This means those using the pathway can use it without having to look out for, and stop for, vehicles crossing the path.

Ultimately pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs enable us to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of pedestrians and cyclists. For our tamariki this is especially important – it means they’ll be able to safely get to and from school each day.

Creating safer, quieter neighbourhoods

The creation of pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs will have the added benefit of creating quieter streets and neighbourhoods. The pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs will help to achieve the following:

For many, homes on cul-de-sac streets are highly sought after and have a higher level of desirability.

Opportunity to create community spaces

The creation of pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs result in more community / free space that can be used in all sorts of ways. Council could grass these areas, could plant fruit trees, create play spaces – things that significantly improve the liveability of the whole neighbourhood. No plans have been made around this but it’s something we’d love your ideas on!

Additional driving time

Creating these pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs will mean that those residents who live on either of the six affected streets will need to have a longer driving time to get onto Whitmore or Rolleston Street.

We’re expecting that the pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs will result in an average additional time of 2.5 minutes.

Higher volume of traffic on Herbert and Oliver Street

Our projections show that the pedestrian malls and cul-de-sacs will result in more traffic on Herbert and Oliver Street. However, the two new roundabouts at the intersection of Rolleston / Herbert Street and Whitmore / Oliver Street will help manage traffic safety and also acting as traffic calming measures (i.e. help slow traffic down).

The detail

Investing in safe and connected walking, scooting and cycling infrastructure is a priority across our district.

In December last year, safe walking and cycling in Waipā was given a massive boost with confirmation the Government will invest millions of dollars of new money on paths and cycleways in the district.

Waipā District Council was successful in receiving up to $17.4 million through Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Climate Emergency Relief Funding. The fund is part of the Government’s Transport Choice programme aimed at opening up streets and helping people safely opt out of cars.

Waka Kotahi is working with local councils to progress strategic cycle networks, create walkable neighbourhoods and safer, greener, and healthier school travel, and make public transport more reliable, affordable, and easier to use.

The funding has accelerated walking and cycling projects in the district.

In Kihikihi, funding is being used to accelerate the building of a protected, linked pedestrian and cycleway down Rolleston Street and Whitmore Street connecting the town centre, Kihikihi School and Kihikihi Domain. Eventually the protected pathways will connect to Te Awamutu Intermediate and College.

Background

There has been a strong desire from our community to transition towards a transport model that supports alternative transport modes, such as walking and cycling. Residents of all ages and abilities want to be able to travel in our main urban areas safely and conveniently, without the need for a car. It also responds to strong government direction around climate change and specifically reducing carbon emissions.

This project is about making changes to streets so they are safer for all modes of transport to get around.

The Waipā District Council Long-Term Plan 2021-2031 includes an investment of over $10 million towards projects such as Cambridge Pathways. The funding from Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency was part of its Transport Choices Package which is included in the Climate Emergency Response Fund.

A Governance Group for the project has been formed and meets regularly to establish a shortlist of priority options for Waipā’s walking and cycling network. A Reference Group has also been formed and given the opportunity to comment on the options. The role of these groups are to be champions of their towns and community groups, to share their opinions and point of views on cycle and pathways and advise how they believe it will impact their community.

The Governance Group has considered feedback from both the Reference Group and Community Boards, and at its meeting of 17 August 2022 made a decision around proceeding with the two projects at Kihikihi and Cambridge, which have been approved by the Council’s Service Delivery Committee.

  • Community engagement: March 2023
  • Cul-de-sac consultation: 13 June – 13 July
  • Hearings at Strategic Planning and Policy Committee: 29 August
  • Plans refined: early September
  • Plans approved by Council: 19 September
  • One month appeal period. Any person may, within one month of Council making a declaration for the pedestrian malls, or such further time as the Environment Court may allow, appeal to the Environment Court against the declaration under section 336(3) of the Local Government Act 1974.
  • Construction begins (approx.): October 2023
  • Construction ends (approx): November 2024

Bus Stop: a designated marked spot where a bus regularly stops for passengers to get on and off.

Shared pathway: A path provided for use by both cyclists and pedestrians, with motor vehicles being legally excluded.

Traffic calming: a range of techniques used to manage road users and the road environment to ensure speeds are appropriate to the local environment and the safety of other road users.

Roundabout: a road junction at which traffic moves in one direction round a central island to reach one of the roads converging on it.

Cul de sacs: a street or passage that is closed for vehicular movement at one end.

Pedestrian malls: a pedestrian mall is a legal term for an area of road where motor vehicles aren’t allowed.

Signalised crossing: A signalised crossing provides priority for cyclists and pedestrians through the use of traffic signals. Short periods of time are allotted to pedestrians and cyclists crossing the road and vehicles travelling along the road.

Raised safety platform: elevated sections of the road that help reduce vehicle speed.

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