Cycling plans for the Manawatu - articles from the Manawatu Standard

Re Feilding to Palmy There is allready a good safe route as follows:-
From Feilding go down Campbells Road, Turn right over the Railway line, then turn left onto Waughs Road (hardly used by traffic), Turn right into Ruffs Road, Left onto Te Ngaio Road, Right onto Kairanga-Bunnythorpe Road,
Left onto Roberts Line to Kelvin Grove Road

What we have is a lot of people, Mayors, Destination Manawatu etc that have never cycled or know what us real cyclists want. As a regular cyclist I train all year round and am associated with all Cycling Clubs in the Manawatu as well as working for a Bike Importer

What we need are extensions along the Manawatu River to Ashhurst or down to Foxton, Turitea Dam up to South Range Road, Upgrade of North Range Road or through the Manawatu Gorge track. These would be fantastic tracks that would get people here.

Thanks for posting those clippings, Julie. It is really interesting to see the local enthusiasm. You are very lucky to have a supportive chief reporter on the Manawatu Standard, and he has noted some really important points, e.g. new cycleways are for new cyclists.
It is also interesting to see comments about attracting cyclists (tourists) into the city. That is exactly what happened in Britain. They built the out-of-town bits, then linked them into the town streets, and ended up with good connections.
Roll on the New Zealand Cycleway!
Cheers,
Jane Dawson
jane@can.org.nz