Main Street – Pioneer Highway cycleway

We’re creating a shared pathway that connects the separated cycleway on Main Street/Pioneer highway to the Longburn shared pathway.

In February 2023, our elected members decided to keep the flexi posts we installed last year, between Pitt and West Streets, until the end of their five-year lifespan. We will then replace them with a more permanent solution.

A new shared pathway will also be built opposite the Pioneer Highway shopping centre on the grass road reserve. It would begin at Shamrock Street, where the flexi posts end, and connect to the Longburn shared pathway on the other side of the Botanical Road intersection.

A traffic-light controlled crossing for pedestrians and people on bikes would be installed by the Pioneer shops for anyone wanting to cross the road.

Next steps?

We are now talking to businesses and neighbouring landowners about the work. Construction will start once we have finished designing the cycleway in late-2023 and 2024.

Any updates will be posted to this webpage.

You most likely know this cycleway for the infamous planter boxes

Following the first COVID-19 lockdown, we trialled planter boxes to keep people on bikes and vehicles separated.

Waka Kotahi funded projects that encouraged councils to trial cycling and pedestrian initiatives. That’s what we did for Main Street between March 2021 and November 2021. Numbers of people on bikes increased during the trial, and in March 2022 Council voted to remove the planter boxes and install the flexi poles you see now until we designed the permanent cycleway.

This cycleway is a top priority route under our Urban Cycle Masterplan

This cycleway is ranked in our top 10 priority routes to create a safe network of protected cycleways. It’s important as it connects the Longburn Shared Path, the Mangaone Stream Shared Pathway and our western suburbs with our city centre, meaning people on bikes can be separated from this busy road for a significant distance as they travel around our city.