CycleWatch – 100 days

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, July 5th, 2009 - 12 comments
Categories: cycleway - Tags:

As CycleWatch hits 100 days, John Key’s been caught with his pants down. As No Right Turn explains a few days ago:

[There has been no cost-benefit analysis] and now it seems to have abandoned its own timetable for beginning the project. Either that, or the Prime Minister is going to pull the initial selection of “great rides” out of his arse, like he has the rest of the policy.

I hear that. And why is that job counter still at zero?

homer-cycle

Time: 100 days

Jobs created: 0

Built (km): 0 out of 1500

Cost thus far: $50m (Budget 2009)

Country status: In recession

12 comments on “CycleWatch – 100 days ”

  1. So Bored 1

    At the risk of sounding very very very boring, WHERE IS OUR F*******G CYCLEWAY?????????

  2. So Bored 2

    So far we have asked that the Jonkey Cycleway includes:

    * increased bridge loadings for Mr Brownlee,
    * banked corners to keep downhill performers like Nick Smith on track.
    * Makkers enroute supplied logistically by said cycleway.

    Anybody got any other additional requirements?

  3. lprent 3

    Provision for handling inflated political ego’s?

  4. greenfly 4

    It’s very tempting to mock and there are grounds for doing so, but the cycleway is crystalizing in the background (back blocks) and will appear in time. We’ll look foolish if we are still crowing. We’ll have dozens of them, rather than the One Way, but it’s time to shake the moths out of your Spandex nevertheless.

    • lprent 4.1

      The ostensible primary reason for the cycleway was to create jobs. A secondary one was to create cycleways of dubious economic benefit.

      The economy is bleeding at least 2000 jobs a week according to the benefit numbers (the crudest and lowest possible measurement). You’d think that some effort could have been expended on pushing forward even the 3 proposed ones that showed up in the cabinet papers. When the projects finally get underway, they will be in areas that have relatively few unemployed compared to say Auckland.

      The whole exercise is pointless as an employment exercise – and it still appears to be uncosted.

      Talking of work – time to catch the bus…

    • So Bored 4.2

      Ummmm, err, so now we have multiple cycleways? Do they meet scratch with our requirements? Is Spandex a requisite for entry (imagine it on Maurice B).

  5. Ianmac 5

    There are many districts building their own recreational cycleways and have been doing so for years. They have little to do with a North South connection but follow local needs and are paid for locally. BUT before long John Key will trumpet success and add all those local km’s of circuits together, and say, ” I did it. I have built X km’s of glorious cycleways and so you critics eat that!”
    PS: I did enter the anti-spam word and checked it exactly but was rejected????

  6. Kevyn 6

    “The ostensible primary reason for the cycleway was to create jobs. A secondary one was to create cycleways of dubious economic benefit.”

    Ah, the secondary comment has echoes of the “Cullen’s Trainset” comments from the righties.

    The primary comment is both premature, because we’re only five days into the new financial year, and probably confusing abscence of evidence with evidence of abscence. While central government hasn’t signed any cheques to pay for anything yet, local government have been busy preparing their applications for a share of the dosh. Whether they’ve actually had to employ extra people to do this or used volunteers or existing staff is a question that no one seems to have asked, and therefore the answer is unknown..

    Admittedly my only source of info has been the Marlborough Express which covers the Coast and upper South Island where this plan is seen as a way to get existing plans completed faster. Much the same way that district roads boards would have responded to the introdution of the petrol tax and the Main Highways Board.

  7. You’re not “photoshopping gay porn” there are you Eddie?

    Cos that would be very hypocritical, I’m sure you’d agree, after all the crap you guys gave WhaleOil last year for supposedly doing just that.

  8. felix 8

    You’re trying to make a little funny there, aren’t you Inventory2?

    ‘Cos there’s no way that anyone could be so retarded as to think there was a real comparison to be made, surely.

    You couldn’t really be that thick, could you?