Having previously been called a “corridor of death” and “the gauntlet”, Nelson’s bedevilled St Vincent Street cycleway is poised to be upgraded.
Nelson City Council have put five different options out for consultation as it seeks to improve the route which has been criticised by cyclists and adjacent businesses alike.
The separated cycleway won a national award when it was installed in 2014, but design standards have since shifted and an independent safety review in 2022 found that visibility could be significantly improved.
The council’s preferred option was to remove car parking along the eastern side of the street, adjacent to the cycleway, to improve visibility and to add a flush median to the road to improve traffic flow.
The four other options were to remove the parking without adding a flush median, replace the separated cycleway with traditional on-road cycle lanes, do nothing, or remove the cycleway completely.
Bevan Woodward, convenor of Bicycle Nelson Bays, said that the cycleway was a “really, really important route” that safely linked Stoke and Nelson.
“It makes sense to go back and look at it now and see how it can be improved.”
He said the council’s preferred option would make the route better but was open to only removing some car parks around the accessways if removing them all was “politically unpalatable”, but thought that ultimately the parks were underutilised.
However, Bevan thought the council should also be considering other improvements as it consulted on the cycleway.
He suggested more speed bumps like those at the exits of Harvey Norman or raising the route like the Railway Reserve’s crossing of Songer Street would slow vehicles down to improve safety.
Bevan added that the cycle network “turns to custard” at the intersection of St Vincent and Gloucester Streets.
“You’re kind of on your own, you’re mixing with traffic, and it’s not good,” he said.
“We are a city which does have a really good uptake of cycling, but it could be so much higher; we’ve got awesome potential.”
He added that he was “quite surprised” that the council was even consulting on removing the cycleway, doing nothing, or converting it into an on-road facility, all of which would not keep cyclists safe.
Phil Eagle, service manager for The Car Company Automotive has previously said the cycleway design was an “absolute disaster”.
“Luckily no one’s died, but it’s the near misses that never get reported, which are constant, all the time.”
He believed that the council had already decided to go with its preferred option of removing parking and installing a flush median, but wanted the cycleway removed entirely.
“The road is too busy to have a cycleway on it.”
While he agreed that removing the car parks would improve visibility, the main issue with the current layout, he was concerned about the impact on businesses.
The Car Company Automotive had off-street parking for customers, but others relied on the parking, he said.
“They’re always full.”
Nelson City Council’s manager transport strategy and planning, Lyndon Hammond, said the council was aware of challenges people have experienced on the cycleway.
The council has recorded 12 accidents involving cyclists on the road since 2014 and 17 complaints about the cycleway and safety, with visibility and cyclist speed the key concerns.
“Removing car parking adjacent to the cycleway was the clearest way to address the issues, a solution that often draws strong opposition and one council has taken time to work through carefully.”
He cited growing public support for change as the main reason the council was consulting, and several options had been put because removing parking “is never straightforward”.
Consultation closes on Friday 28 August, and afterwards the council will consider how the cycleway interacts with the surrounding intersections and roundabouts.
The project had a $225,000 budget, and timing on implementing any solution was dependent on the feedback received.
The $1 million upgrade of the Toi Toi roundabout, completed in 2024, was also recommended by the 2022 safety review.
