The Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges, cut the ribbon to open the new Nelson St cycleway this morning. After that, he and pupils from Freeman’s Bay school, rode their bikes along the cycleway.
This 3.5km long cycleway links with Upper Queen St and continues to Victoria St. When the next stage is finished, it will continue to the harbour.
It is a very attractive path for cyclists and walkers. It has high fences on each side to separate it from cars. The surface is bright pink with a Maori koru design on it. The width is 3m wide which is wide enough for pedestrians and two-way cycle traffic. There is a long bridge over the motorway with glass walls and a string of lights along the walls. Local Maori call this path Te Ara I Whiti which means lightpath.
When cyclists want to leave the cycleway to cross the city, they have their own cycle traffic lights.
The Nelson St cycleway cost $18million. It is part of a $200m urban cycleway programme.
Vocabulary
• cut the ribbon – traditional way of opening a new building or road or cycleway
• surface – paint on the path; cyclists ride on the surface
• koru – new fern leaf starting to open
• pedestrians – walkers
• two-way – cyclists going into the city and out of the city
• cycleway = cycle path
• urban – city
Note: width (n), wide (adj