Track improvements to enhance off-road commuting in Wellington

They include a much-improved Town Belt track for college students wanting to walk or bike to school from the eastern suburbs, a new path under way in Macalister Park that will provide easier all-weather access between Mornington and Newtown, and track upgrades to improve links between Hataitai and Newtown. 

The work follows a significant upgrade of the main Town Belt track linking Hataitai and the city/Mt Victoria completed in 2023. 

The latest pedestrian and bike improvements are being funded as part of the $650,000 grant the city won in 2023 when it gained global recognition as one of the first 10 cities of the prestigious Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI). An initiative led in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Global Designing Cities Initiative, BICI is designed to help cities around the world design streets that increase biking rates, revitalise neighbourhoods, and promote the health and well-being of communities.  

The improved connections happening here are helping to create a nature-based off-road network that connects with and expands the city’s on-road bike network, offering more route choices for people who may have different preferences, abilities and confidence levels. 

The Council’s plan to improve bike links and increase opportunities for greener commutes aligns with Trails Wellington’s vision and beliefs about the importance of connectivity and the characteristics of cities most likely to thrive in the future. 

Some connections are also benefiting from the efforts and enthusiasm of local volunteers.  

Trails Wellington works in partnership with the Council and volunteers from Matairangi Trail Builders, Mākara Peak Supporters and Brooklyn Trail Builders to help breathe new life into some of the city’s existing trails and help create some great new ones.  

Council project manager Jonathan Kennett says Wellington’s parks, hills and bush and coastal connections make it easy to factor some nature into your day and it is great to see improvements being made on and off-road.  

“Research shows walking or biking to work is a mood-enhancing way to balance time spent indoors or online. It’s also a great and affordable way to add regular exercise into your week.” 

Macalister Park – a new all-weather connection

Work on a new section of sealed path around the Macalister Park playing field in Berhampore began this month and should be complete by the end of February.  

People use this route to walk, scoot and bike to and from Kingston/Mornington and Berhampore/Newtown but it hasn’t been a user-friendly option during wetter months because it gets so muddy. 

The new 2 metre-wide, 380 metre-long path around the playing field will connect with the existing sealed section to provide an all-weather route from Farnham Street to Adelaide Road via Liardet and Macalister parks. From here it is a short walk or ride to Newtown, and the safe bike connection to the city and waterfront or Island Bay, and frequent bus services. 

You can still use the park and route while work happens, but for safety reasons please avoid the work areas. The team will build the track, gravel it as they go, and seal it in one go at the end. 

Wellington East Girls’ College - a greener way to school

Wellington East Girls’ College students coming from the eastern suburbs have an easier, more pleasant way they can get to and from school by bike or on foot via the Town Belt.  

Last year students from the college’s enviro club laid out their idea to create an easy commuter track over Mt Victoria to school. Then supported by the Council, teachers and Matairangi Trail Builders, they grabbed wheelbarrows and spades and helped make it happen.  

Together they widened, resurfaced and rerouted a steep section of an old track and installed a new gate in the school fence – providing a greener alternative to walking or biking through the noisy Mt Vic tunnel.  

Hataitai to Newtown – a more resilient link 

If you have walked or ridden the path behind the velodrome in Hataitai Park recently, you’ll have seen the path has been widened and rebuilt. It now has a more resilient, lime-stabilised surface that won’t get muddy. 

This work is part of a plan to improve the 2.1km connection between Hataitai and Newtown, by upgrading existing paths and rough, steep and muddy sections of track between Taurimu Street near the Hataitai shops and Mein Street in Newtown. It will include clearer way-finding signs. 

When complete, the route will provide safer and easier access for people walking or biking from Hataitai to destinations including the Newtown shops, the Saturday market and Wellington Hospital.  

It will also provide a link to the safe biking connection between the south coast/Island Bay and the city and waterfront.