Another Tamaki Drive Cyclist Bowled

Another cyclist got bowled on Tamaki Drive this morning.

A man was taken to hospital after an accident with a car during the morning rush hour.

This  – as hundreds of cyclists gather for the popular Taupo race- underlines the continuing dangers of cycling which remain unresolved.

The Auckland city council, from its meeting with interested parties after the last much-publicised and debated Tamaki Drive cycle / car incident,  promised an education campaign to encourage motorists and cyclists to look out for each other, starting late November.

I haven’t sighted that yet but am not sure an education campaign would help cars and bikes running into problems along the waterfront as happened this morning.

Talking of Tamaki Drive: there is a change to existing city-bound Tamaki Drive bus lane – from Kelly Tarlton’s to the Ngapipi Rd intersection, from Monday. It becomes what’s termed in jargon land, T2 or Transit 2.

What this means is there will be a 12 month trial allowing buses and any vehicle with two or more occupants to travel in the lane between 7am and 9am weekdays. During the trial, the council will monitor usage of the lane to see the impact this has on road capacity and travel times for both buses and other vehicles. This transit lane project is commencing two months ahead of schedule, so it can be implemented directly after a scheduled reseal of this part of the road.

The section of Tamaki Drive concerned is about 1.25km long. Until this time, this section of Tamaki Drive has been a dedicated bus lane from 7am to 9pm, Monday to Friday. Between 10 and 14 buses an hour during this time use the lane.