Island Bay cycleway killing jobs

Stuff reports:

After 27 years of running Chappies Dairy in Wellington, owners Sandy and Ken Patel are shutting up shop due to declining business they say is partly due to the controversial Island Bay cycleway.

A lack of short-term parking outside their shop on The Parade in Island Bay has proved to be the “nail in the coffin” for their business, they say.

Four short-term parking spaces directly outside the dairy were removed to accommodate the $1.2 million cycleway, which was built between late 2015 and early 2016. It left the Patels with just a single car park.

So what will Justin Lester do? The cycleway is hated by the vast majority of the Island Bay community. Almost none of them are against having a cycleway – just against this particular design.

It should be scrapped until an acceptable alternative is agreed on.

That sentiment was echoed by a handful of dairy owners along The Parade, including Mersey St store owners Sanjay and Jayshree Patel.

“Nobody listened because they just wanted the cycleway so bad and now it’s our livelihood that is suffering,” Sanjay said.

The cycleway’s layout, which places cyclists between the footpath and parked cars, has drawn criticism from some who argue it has made The Parade too narrow for vehicles and reduced visibility for motorists entering and exiting driveways.

The Parade used to be a wonderfully wide and safe street.