New Zealand’s first hook turn for cyclists will soon be installed in Christchurch, at the Memorial Avenue and Greers Road intersection. The hook turn is a key part of a set of road-safety improvements for cyclists around Burnside High School.The safety problem at the intersection was found through the City Council’s Safe Cycling to School project. About 600 Burnside pupils ride to school, the highest number of any city school. Many said high speed and heavy traffic makes it difficult for them to turn right from Memorial Avenue into Greers Road. The hook turn lets cyclists keep left and gives them a right turn over two green-light phases. In the first phase they can cross Greers Road to a special red-marked area, where they wait for a second green light to cross Memorial Avenue. Victoria Lawson, the Council’s Cycle Planner, says hook turns reduce conflict between cyclists and motorists and improve cyclist safety.

“It’s an alternative to making the normal right-turn manoeuvre, for cyclists who’d feel safer using this option,” she says. “It’s not a legal requirement to turn right using a hook turn.”

For further information, call Victoria Lawson on 941 8614.