In successful cities around the world, more and more people are leaving their cars behind and returning to the healthy and resilient alternatives of walking and cycling.
In January 2010, Copeland Associates Architects were commissioned by the Auckland Harbour Bridge Pathway Charitable Trust to work on a proposal for a pathway for walking and cycling connected onto the iconic Auckland Harbour Bridge. The objective of this project is to deliver the most critical link in the Auckland Region’s walking and cycling network and to energize ongoing improvements to walking and cycling facilities on both sides of the bridge. More images and architects’ description after the break.
This proposal for a shared pathway for cyclists and pedestrians under the cantilevered roadway of the southbound box girder, has a number of benefits:
- As a combined walking and cycling facility it is significantly less expensive than options that entail two separate pathways. - Can be built wide enough to provide a high level of safety for its users. Traffic numbers are monitored by electronic management system to ensure that loadings stay within allowable safety margins, and do not affect the capacity of the bridge for vehicular traffic.
- Is physically separate from the roadway so enables vehicular traffic to be unaffected by pedestrians or cyclists, so also enhancing safety and security for pathway users. - Does not require narrowing of the existing traffic lanes and can readily ramp down to land level at each end of the bridge. - Is designed aerodynamically to minimize any additional wind resistance to the existing structure. - Is sheltered from both traffic emissions and the weather.
- The Pathway can widen out at main bridge piers to form observation platforms, providing excellent views of the harbour without blocking motorists’ views from the bridge. - Reducing air pollution and carbon emissions for the benefit of the environment. - Creating significant recreational and economic benefits for the whole of Auckland in keeping with the iconic Auckland Harbour Bridge.
