Guest post: An infrastructure tour of Auckland

When I have the opportunity to travel I always keep an eye open to infrastructure that is welcoming, surprising, unique, or very hostile to humans. Over the winter break I was in New Zealand, so I thought I’d give a quick tour of what caught my eye.

There is a lot of public art in Auckland; this was my favorite mural:

A contraflow bike lane. This is going up a hill and the path needed to get creative. In the distance the lane is on the street but has a curb:

Bus lane. This is somewhat common where the bus lane leaves room for turning drivers:

Another view of the green bus lane:

A beautiful sign for common space that is overseen by a waterfront restaurant. This reminds me of Portland’s Street Seats, but is more welcoming because it explicitly invites non-customers:

A human-oriented construction detour sign:

A very explicit “shared zone” sign. It’s clear who is being invited to use this alley:

A less explicit “shared zone” sign:

A subtle cue that bicyclists are welcome on this walkway. It seems useful where sidewalks are meant to be shared by humans on various modes:

Picturesque view with sharrows on the road. This is a relatively low-volume street through office spaces in the heart of the city:

— Ted Timmons @tedder42 on Twitter.
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Ted Timmons (Contributor)