To get back to the main topic - I'm a supporter of the "link up the parks" approach. It's relatively low cost to develop a few more paths, typically takes you through nice areas and you are further away from cars. Yeah, it may be slightly slower than the main road, but then it can let you take short-cuts that cars can't. For a while I was doing some commuting from Titirangi to Glen Innes.. which doesn't sound great but an evening with a road map and Google Maps satellite view let me work out a route that linked up a bunch of parks, walkways and backstreets, making it a quite an enjoyable and safe feeling ride (if slightly long and hilly...). Back streets, even with speed bumps don't slow you down much on a bike. I just wont ride the squeezed four lane arterials like Gt North Road/Ash street. They are scary. It would be great to have proper separated cycleways there, but I can't see that happening any time soon...

I'm all in favour of using bells on shared paths - somehow they seem more "polite" than other options. However they don't work so well when the pedestrians have headphones in... can take quite a few dings. Most pedestrians on the NW cycleway are considerate, presumably because there are so many cyclists, many moving quickly. Smaller cycleways take more care - this evening coming back home from Glen Eden train station I had to work my way past side-by-side prams with a wandering toddler, kids and their scooters lying right across the path, random small dog, runner doing interval training, and even a very staunch cat that wasn't moving for anybody. I don't mind the people, great to see them out and about, just have to be sensible about speed. Less keen on random unpredictable dogs...

Nope won't load for me either. While it will be great to have a proper path, New Lynn to Waterview isn't actually too bad with the right route. There are on-road cycle lanes on Clark Street (just watch for turning cars..), shared walking/cycling path on left of Wolverton, left onto St George St (wide, just be careful on diagonal rail crossing, or use foot crossing), through main Avondale roundabout (actually not bad, cars generally aren't moving very fast), straight ahead through first part of Avondale, right up Crayford St W past school, left onto Layard St past railway station, right onto Roseback Rd, immediately left onto Roberton, right onto Henry St, left onto Blockhouse Bay road then coast past the traffic queues down to the end of Blockhouse Bay Rd and cross onto the RH footpath on Gt North Rd to head down to Waterview (careful on driveways, high fences are annoying). Same in reverse, Layard is one way so I normally use the footpath after the RSA, and when I come back up the Wolverton path to Portage Rd I normally join the right turning traffic from Portage onto Clark St and use the cycle lane through New Lynn.