Update 9 August – We have heard all these promises before the new TTCB were elected. i.e. In 2015 Government promised $330 Million on 41 new cycleways with more than $87 Million on provincial centres. So we waited in anticipation but received nothing. Then they promised more new projects funded from a range of sources including Government’s $100 Million Urban Cycleways Programme announced with the same crucial timing – as a pre-election sweetener. We heard similar promises in 2010! We heard from TDC it was all arranged. Now, five years later, diddly squat! They are always vague promises with big $ numbers… So, despite Turangi Counsellors’ confidence, we are not holding our breath. We will cheer when it happens.
Why does Turangi always miss out?
Consider the Government handouts for other bike trails below – $19 Million to Cambidge, $15 Million to Eastbourne, etc.
Meanwhile, the Turangi to Taupo trail (T2T) and the bike trail extending the Tongariro River Trail south of Turangi miss out again. Over the last decade these trails have been subject to over $100,000 in reports which all confirm their viability and priority but get shelved by Toe-paw council again. They spent millions widening their existing Lions Walk footpath which will not add a single extra tourist, while Turangi misses out again.
WHY?
8 August 2020 Almost 19 million dollars will go towards connecting Hamilton and Cambridge as part of the Te Awa River Ride, as well as new paths in Turangi and Taupo.
It’s part of the 220 million dollar cycleway package for shovel-ready projects.Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter says an estimated 110-thousand people will use the Te Awa River Ride each year.She says better cycling and walking infrastructure will make for more attractive and people-friendly cities.
5 Aug 2020 – Eastbourne cycling, walking path gets $15m government funding.Government funding for a long championed cycleway in Wellington is being enthusiastically received.It is hoped construction of a cycle and walking path in Eastbourne can start next year. The government is giving $15 million to help build a cycle and walking path beside the shoreline in Eastbourne.
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry said the path had been decades in the making and the money meant plans could forge ahead.”Reaction from a number of advocates who have been working this for a long time was ecstatic.
“And the excitement to know that this is now not just pipe dream it is a reality to be able to get on with it.”Barry said a new seawall to prevent road closures from storm surges and other improvements would also be built as part of the new path. The project is going through the consent phase and it is hoped construction will start early next year, he said. The money comes from the government’s $220 million nationwide cycleways package from its shovel ready projects.
Also announced today was $1m for cycle trails in Wairarapa, etc…..
