An extra gear has been clicked on Tasman’s Great Taste Trail for travellers on two wheels.
Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust officially opened a new add-on trail to the 200km Nelson Tasman loop last week.
The new trail’s pedal power begins from Bolt Rd and meanders round the Nelson Golf Course to Awatea Pl, providing a gateway for cyclists to Tāhunanui and Nelson Airport.
Administrator for the trust, Elizabeth Bean, says the cycling community believed the new trail was a “really good edition”.
“The Great Taste Trail had 234,000 users in the previous 12 months and that’s up 17 per cent on the previous year, so as we’ve built more trail more people have ridden the trail, so I think that’s the outcomes growing the usage,” she says.
“Outcomes for local users are health and well-being, active transport, having a good time, and for visitors to the region, it gives them more trail to ride on and get them safely to Tāhuna.
“Cycle tour operators in the region see it as a really good edition.”
Elizabeth says the new trail’s construction didn’t saddle up until this year, but it was planned when the Great Taste Trail concept pedalled forward in 2010.
“The section of trail required quite close work with the Nelson Golf Course because it goes along a perimeter of the golf course, and whilst construction was on, that was really important to them that we didn’t interfere with golfers, so that relationship has been important,” she says.
“The other bit that was key was the trail comes out a Awatea Pl and Nelson City Council’s been doing a big upgrade of [the Awatea Place pump station], and that project had challenges.
“In Nelson City the weather has been really wet, [the pump station has] run about 12 months behind so we’ve had to adjust our timeline.”
Elizabeth says the total cost of the trail from the airport to Tāhunanui was $805,000, and it was funded by Nelson City Council and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
She says the trust’s next cycle project was a new offroad trail from Pokororo to Ngatimoti which will include four bridges and an elevated boardwalk.
The project is expected to set in motion in April next year.
