Dawn Karakia for the New Tamaki Cycleway

Julie Gunn from Auckland Transport and Alex Bonham after the Dawn Karakia before work begins on the Tamaki Cycleway

It was an early start. Waking up is a wrench but moving through the city and to the quiet inky waterfront in the darkness by 5.15am and there is part of you that thinks you should do this more often. There is a sort of camaraderie at that time. Conversations flow easily between officials, and executives, politicians and Mana Whenua leaders until the ceremony begins with the sound of a conch, and we pray, and we walk the route, and we sing, and we eat. We head back as the dawn light makes the marina water pink. It is quarter to seven.

The new cycleway is on the waterfront side of Tamaki Drive and will link into the Quay Street cycleway. It will make considerably safer one of the most dangerous corners for cyclists in Auckland on the corner of the Orakei basin. Other gaps to be filled in the protected cycle network include the central section of the Glen Innes Tamaki cycle route, and, recently announced, the waterfront cycleway over the harbour bridge and up to Albany. Long coastal rides from St Heliers to Takapuna will become possible within a decade we have been advised. So many people work on these projects that sometimes by the time they are finished, or even start to be built some key contributors have moved on. So thank you to everyone involved, and thank you to everyone who got us to to this point.

Yesterday we also saw a small section of route that links up Nelson Street and the Viaduct area at the loss of three carparks (down to 27 from 30) and no trees. I have asked our team at Swanson Street for a great big map on which we can track all the projects, completed, coming up and underway. Watch this space.