22 Oct 2015

Dunedin council back pedals on cycle project

7:19 pm on 22 October 2015

Dunedin City Council has decided to scale back its botched South Dunedin cycle network, after Councillors said it was badly thought out and badly executed.

The decision was made at a heated council meeting at the town hall.

After a public backlash, Dunedin council spent $320,000 ripping up traffic islands, reinstating quiet streets to two ways and removing road markings.

It was all meant to make South Dunedin one of the most cycle friendly places in the country.

Councillors today poured scorn on the work, saying it was badly thought out and badly executed, done on the cheap and without listening to local residents.

The majority backed a plan to scale back the network to focus on a much smaller number of high quality, separated cycleways in mainly coastal links.

But Councillor Aaron Hawkins said it could leave the area with broken promises again.

He said South Dunedin had suffered from unfulfilled promises of decent amenities for generations.