A push by the Oriental Bay Residents Association for a signposted 15 kilometre an hour speed limit on the shared pathway running along Wellington’s harbour promenade has landed on the desk of Mayor Andrew Little, who says enforcement would be difficult and that people travelling the route need to lean on common sense rather than new signs.
The proposal would cover the full sweep from Point Jerningham, through Oriental Parade and on to the Railway Station. Association president Paul Ridley-Smith told RNZ he is aware of at least three crashes involving injuries on that strip in the last 18 months, and said the campaign was not about ticketing riders.
“This isn’t about trying to set up speed cameras to give people $200 tickets. What it’s about is having prominent signage, having consequences for the people who just flaunt it,” Ridley-Smith said. “Basically giving the message that there is a speed limit, please abide by it on the grounds of safety.”
The pathway is one of the busiest active transport corridors in the city. Wellington City Council figures show an average of 1190 cycle trips along Oriental Parade each weekday in 2026, on top of the runners, walkers, beach goers and children who fill the promenade on a sunny day. The pavement varies in width from more than 12 metres at its widest down to roughly the width of a car at the squeeze point between the Band Rotunda and the nearly century-old Norfolk pines that line the road.
That mix of users at very different speeds is at the heart of the dispute. Local cycle commuter Grant, who rides the path from the south coast almost every day, told RNZ he would prefer commuter traffic was kept clear of slower walkers. “I’ve seen some really close shaves on that shared pathway and the commuters go really too fast, the bikes,” he said.
Cycle Wellington spokesperson Patrick Morgan agreed the existing shared layout had been outgrown, but argued the answer was infrastructure rather than speed limits. “A shared space was an easy solution back when there were fewer people riding but, as cycling is gaining in popularity in Wellington, the infrastructure is no longer fit for purpose,” Morgan said. “The city council should be reviewing Oriental Bay and building a proper protected bike lane along there.” He doubted Wellingtonians wanted to see the popular waterfront strip peppered with speed limit signs.
Walkers and cyclists out on the parade were similarly split. “You’ve got walkers, you’ve got cyclists, you’ve got runners and you’ve got children even, scattered left and right,” John Skinnon told RNZ. Sue Duncan saw the practical problem with a posted limit, asking “if there was a speed limit, how would you ever enforce it?” Cyclist Craig Wheeler said a separate cycle lane would solve the problem but warned that “you don’t really want to put another lane in, it kind of ruins the aesthetic.”
Police have confirmed one of the recent injuries. A spokesperson said they had received a report of a crash alongside Oriental Parade near Carlton Gore Road just after 8am on 3 January, where a female pedestrian was hit by a cyclist, taken to hospital with moderate injuries and treated by ambulance. The location is near the point where the separated pathways end and merge into the shared section. Police did not attend the scene.
The Wellington City Council said it had official records of two bicycle and pedestrian crashes in the area for the five years following 2020, but acknowledged there had been other crashes and near misses that were never officially reported. The council pointed users back to the existing cycling road code, which does not actually set a top speed for shared pavement. The code instead asks riders to use slower speeds, give way to slower users, pass with at least a metre of clearance, ring a bell or call out to alert pedestrians, ride on the left and pass on the right.
That is roughly the position Andrew Little took when asked about the residents’ proposal. The Mayor said he was aware of the crashes but doubted a signposted limit would change behaviour much, partly because there is a real limit on what the council can regulate on footpaths. “But we can certainly do a little more in getting messages out, getting signs out saying you’re on a shared path, slow down, which is what people should do,” Little said.
He framed the issue as one of personal restraint rather than enforcement. “It just makes sense that you slow down and you don’t operate your cycle or your scooter in a way that’s going to frighten people. That’s just basic human common sense that I’d expect people to apply,” he said.
The debate is landing as the council finalises a wider piece of work on the road that runs alongside the pathway. This month the council closed public consultation on a package of traffic calming measures and pedestrian crossing upgrades for Oriental Parade, in response to long-running safety concerns about the carriageway itself. Whether the shared pathway gets a posted speed limit, a separated cycle lane, or simply more signs reminding everyone to slow down is now a question for elected members in the coming months.
What do you think? Should Wellington post a 15 kilometre an hour limit on Oriental Parade, build a protected cycle lane, or just trust people to use common sense? Tell us in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job π
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