[bikeqld] Should we expecting this?

[kim]

Hi Ian,

Yep, they painted on the edge line at the end of the week and added a 
big Bus Lane pavement marking. It was pretty obvious that the QRR only 
permit cycles on a designated bus lane and that is defined in the QRR. 
They seem to have done the line markings on Miskin while they were there 
as some had been a bit obscured by the stuff up with the traffic calming 
they put down and pulled up. The Miskin end of the green still shows the 
outline of some sort of kerb or chevron build out (perhaps like the Dean 
St end) which had not been made at the time I looked. I hope that they 
don't actually build a kerb 'build out' there as most cyclists I see 
like to enter directly from Miskin St rather than the dog leg across the 
new little concrete bit they made which is not that convenient or safe 
methinks. I think that if it does end up as just a painted chevron area 
with a single line border then it should still be legal to ride over it 
by entering from Miskin. I think the buses would prefer no lumps too as 
they need to take the left turn pretty wide. I have been trying to use 
the driveway ramp into the Subaru place as this aligns more directly 
with the green bike lane so you don't risk going diagonal contra-flow 
across Miskin. I reckon that if they extended the refuge up to here it 
would be fine, the road is same width there and gives cars a bit more 
room to merge into the single lane. I did suggest that to the ATU when 
we met up. (I think Meg there was the only one that listened to my 
suggestions and made notes at that meet, others were just defensive of 
the status quo). I note that many cyclists don't use the sharp right 
angle they built at the Dean St end and just go out onto Dean and cross 
diagonal to the park.
If you have not had a look there for a while, there is also some Council 
works on the shared path (the complete width) on the corner by Subaru 
which are pretty dodgy. I noticed a bike went in the hole which had been 
back filled with soft sand. No real warnings, precautions or detours. I 
will have to take another look but I am sure there is a white bike 
symbol in the middle of Miskin St as it comes off the magic roundabout. 
Not sure if that is new. It might be intended to warn motorists of the 
crossing but it potentially makes that part of Miskin St a bike lane. 
Perhaps it was part of the 'well intentioned' efforts by BCC when they 
put down the traffic calming red treatment at the crossing point? 
Perhaps I just imagined it too :)
Yes, last the list heard you were looking for a bike trailer for a 
weekend away and then we never heard much more from you..... I thought 
you must have taken a liking to the camping spot and stayed on :)

k