Complete: biking both ways
People on bikes are now allowed to cycle both ways in the shared zone on lower Cuba Street, between Wakefield Street and Manners Street.
Vehicle traffic is one-way from Manners Street down to Wakefield Street.
- New signs let people know they can ride into lower Cuba Street from either Manners Street or Wakefield Street.
- They have to keep left if vehicles are coming towards them.
- Pedestrians have priority in the shared space, so people on bikes have to give way.
- Drivers are already required to travel very slowly and must share the space with other users.
How this will help
We want to make things safer and more convenient for people on bikes, and improving connections between streets is one of the ways we can do this.
As well as shops, cafes and businesses, there are a number of other destinations around here that people on bikes can get to more easily, including Te Auaha, the WelTec/Whitireia creative campus in Cuba Mall, and Le Cordon Bleu culinary arts and hospitality school.
Allowing people to cycle both ways through here helps to provide an alternative north-south connection between the central city and parts of Mt Cook and Te Aro, though they have to get off and walk their bikes through Cuba Mall.
Lower Cuba Street was already a shared zone with very low speeds and traffic volumes. Only about 570 vehicles a day use the street, and the speed limit is 10km/h.
This is one of a series of changes to improve connections and make it safer and easier for people to get places in the central city by bike.
Incremental changes like these – combined with the more substantial changes planned as part of the Let’s Get Wellington Moving project – will together help create a better cycling network.
- The feedback period on the traffic changes (resolutions) related to this proposal was 25 July to 11 August 2017.
- Councillors approved the proposal on 14 September 2017.
- Other changes recommended by the Central City Area Working Group are being considered. Some – including improvements to crossings to the waterfront – may happen as part of routine upgrade programmes. Others will require traffic resolutions that will be advertised at a later date.
Read the traffic resolution report that went out for consultation.
Central city big picture
We're making a range of improvements in the central city. Some of these changes are complete, some are under way and others are still being considered.
Central city timeline
Keep up to date with how projects are going, and understand the process so far. New events will be added as projects progress.
Contra-flow cycle lanes
Contra-flow lanes allow people on bikes to ride in both directions on one-way streets.
Background documents
View supporting documents for improvements to the central city.
Central city
See the improvements we're considering for the central city. Following public consultation, some of these changes have been completed.
