As some of you may have heard, Stage 2 of the GI-TD Shared Path is delayed with the remaining section 2 (Pourewa Valley) and section 4 (Hobson Bay to Tamaki Drive) now not estimated to be completed until 2021. That’s right, 2021.
We asked our Past Chair, Tim Duguid for a personal reflection on the project:
“When the project started in 2014, my two children attended Selwyn College, and they both looked forward to using it to get to school: a short hop across the valley from Meadowbank Road would beat the school bus any day. Or a 45 minute walk or a bike ride round St Johns and Kohi Roads. The project timeline slipped and my daughter left school, and now today is my son’s last day at school. He gave up any hope of using the path sometime last year. Just a few more bike rides on the footpaths and mixing it with the traffic for his final exam days and that will be that.
Setting a date of 2021 means anyone currently in Year 12 or Year 11 or quite likely Year 10 won’t get to use it either. That’s a couple of hundred more of our teenagers consigned to the bus and the main roads over the next three years. Or a car ride, perish the thought. It’s a similar story for younger children at St Thomas’s of course.
It’s equally frustrating for anyone else wanting to cross the valley for any other reason. In my case, mostly for running around the Pourewa Valley and down to the waterfront.
I think Auckland Transport (AT), NZTA and others have completely failed to manage expectations: two years has become seven years. Seven years to build a path, which has overwhelming support throughout the community. Meanwhile, along with many others, I’ve written submissions, attended workshops, given up time to get to meetings with the project team. At one such meeting back in 2015, I relayed a comment from a resident that ‘any path, however rudimentary’ would be better than waiting years.
I just want to see this done. Done properly, and the sooner the better.”
What we say: please keep making your voice heard, however long this takes! Let’s do what we can to make sure Stage 2 of the GI-TD Shared Path delivers the outcomes we want. Click here to view the consultation information, graphics and also find links to give feedback on Sections 2 and 3 here. AT are seeking feedback until 9 November 2018.