7 September 2021
Encouraging healthier, more environmentally-friendly travel options—like walking, cycling and scooting—is a priority for many cities and towns across New Zealand.
In Whanganui—where 80% of the community lives within 4km of the city centre—their goal is to significantly increase the number of people who cycle, especially for short-distance trips.
To support this goal, Whanganui District Council has been expanding and enhancing its cycling network.
As part of this work, Te Tuaiwi (The Spine) was opened in November 2019. It’s a 2.3km long, three-metre-wide, sealed concrete walking and cycling path that makes it safer and easier for people of all ages and abilities to get around town.
Te Tuaiwi links two existing pathways (the London Street and river walking and cycling paths) and runs past three schools to the Whanganui city bridge – providing safe, convenient access to the city and local schools.
Te Tuaiwi was used almost 79,500 times between June 2020 and June 2021 and on average it’s used more than 215 times each day.
This work was supported in part by the Urban Cycleways Fund.
An additional $1.3 billion will be invested in transport project across the Manawatū/Whanganui region as part of the 2021–24 National Land Transport Programme.
