The fate of a walking and cycle lane trial on Auckland's harbour bridge is still hanging in the balance following a Waka Kotahi board meeting.
Cycling group Movement has threatened legal action against the transport agency after it pulled the handbrake on a walking and biking lane trial over the bridge - unless Waka Kotahi agreed to reconsider the decision and get independent advice.
It has been hotly debated for years; first there was the Skypath proposal, which was ditched, and then came plans for a stand alone walking and bike bridge, and that was dumped too.
In December last year, Waka Kotahi ruled out a trial for walkers and cyclists on the Harbour Bridge - despite the transport minister repeatedly asking for one - among the reasons were safety concerns.
Waka Kotahi was expected to revisit the issue today but is yet to reveal its decision.
Movement Cycling Group spokesperson Bevan Woodward told Checkpoint the transport agency needed to accept the proposal for what it was - a trial.
"Let's face it, it is a trial, we're not locking ourselves into anything and it may work, it may be that traffic flows better, we give greater travel choice to Aucklanders and we reduce our carbon emissions it's a win, win, win," Woodward said.
Any decision from Waka Kotahi was likely to be days away, he said.
He suggested Waka Kotahi utilised two lanes of the bridge that were routinely closed in January to enable the walking and cycling trial to go ahead.
"Every year, Waka Kotahi closes down two lanes on the Harbour Bridge for maintenance in early January, I think that once they have done their maintenance, their resealing, they should carry on closing it for the rest of January until the anniversary weekend for Aucklanders to walk or cycle over their bridge," he said.
Once the "pent up demand" amongst cyclists had subsided after the initial opening of the trial, the transport agency could then move to a longer term one-lane trial, Woodward said.
If Waka Kotahi ruled out a trial, the Movement Cycling Group would be forced to take the issue to court to push for a judicial review, he said.
The transport agency had argued the Harbour Bridge would be unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists but it had failed to get into specifics, he said.
"Waka Kotahi have not been specific about what is the danger of people cycling over the Habour Bridge, granted there will be a barrier that protects walkers, cyclists, scooter users from the live traffic."
The danger appeared to be that cyclists would travel too fast and collide with one another but this could be easily avoided with small cycling designed speed bumps, Woodward said.
Movement described Waka Kotahi's original decision to not go ahead with the trial as "illegal, unfair and unreasonable".
The group had reviewed the reports the transport agency had relied upon for its decision on the trial and found those reports stated the walking and cycling trial was viable, despite safety risks that were deemed as able to be mitigated, Woodward said.
Independent advice was needed to provide clarity to both sides around the viability of the trial, he said.
Movement would be contacting Australian consultancy firms to try and gain an independent analysis of the situation, he said.
Waka Kotahi were approached for comment or an interview, but did not respond.
