Final funds raised for clip-on cycleway design

A total of $25,875 has been raised for the cost of the preliminary design of a pedestrian clip-on for the Waikouaiti River rail bridge. The bridge is part of Section 1 of the Coastal Communities Cycle Connection, a project to provide an off-road walking and cycling path between the townships of Waikouaiti and Karitane, and Warrington and Waitati, connecting through to Port Chalmers.

Coordinator Emily Cooper said "We are thrilled to reach this point. The community has really come together to back this project and raise these funds. I'd like to thank all our funders and financial supporters for their donations."

Funding came from OceanaGold, Grassroots, the Waikouaiti Coast Community Board, the M2O mountain bike event and a bingo night. Several significant donations were also received from individuals wanting to support Section 1 of the cycleway project.

The design will be completed by Holmes, a New Zealand-owned engineering business with a focus on civil infrastructure. The process is expected to take around 3 months.

"We will have the opportunity to add the clip-on when Kiwirail finish building their new bridge, which is currently under construction." said Emily. "Once we have the design, we can apply for resource consent from the Otago Regional Council and we can work with Kiwirail on the detailed design." 

The project has been granted free resource consent processing by the Otago Regional Council as part of their annual consent funding round.

The Dunedin Tracks Network Trust is administering the funds on behalf of the cycleway group. The project is one of five new Dunedin trails which the trust is helping community groups to develop. Donations to the project can be made on the trust's website.