Nelson Street Cycleway

The Nelson Street Cycleway (Māori: Te Ara I Whiti, translated as, and commonly known as Lightpath) is a shared pathway for walking and cycling in Auckland, New Zealand. Stage 1 of the project was opened on 3 December 2015; stage 2 was originally to open in early 2016, but has been delayed and is now expected to continue late 2016/2017. Once completed, the route will give access from Upper Queen Street to the Auckland CBD and the cycleway along the waterfront. Stage 1 utilises an unused off-ramp in the Central Motorway Junction (CMJ) where State Highway 1 and 16 cross - this is the section that is called Lightpath - plus the first three street blocks of Nelson Street up to Victoria Street West.

Unique features of the old offramp are the hot-pink colour of its surface, and its LED mood lighting system that constantly changes; the latter feature inspired the Māori name.

The chosen route starts at Upper Queen Street, linking there with the Northwestern Cycleway that has been extended to descend into Grafton Gully via the Symonds Street Cemetery. Turning off Upper Queen Street into Canada Street, a new bridge connects to the old Nelson Street off-ramp. The motorway infrastructure links into the urban road network at traffic lights at Union Street. From here, a protected cycleway runs along the left side of Nelson Street for three blocks, crossing Cook Street and Wellesley Street West at traffic lights. The route currently finishes at Victoria Street West, where the facility crosses the signalised intersection diagonally to the north-east quadrant.

In 2005, the motorway off-ramp that made a connection from the CMJ to Auckland's Nelson Street was closed and replaced with an upgraded ramp. The old Nelson Street off-ramp was difficult to reach for drivers coming from the Northwestern Motorway, as they had to weave to the right within the CMJ. The new Nelson Street off-ramp was opened on 3 July 2005 and allowed for the principle of keeping left when leaving the motorway.

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