Esplanade Children's Bike Track (Junior Road Safety Park)

Esplanade Children's Bike Track, also known as the Junior Road Safety Park, is a miniature road network built to scale inside Victoria Esplanade, complete with intersections, a roundabout, working traffic lights, and give way and stop signs that mirror Palmerston North's real streets. It suits children aged two to ten learning to ride and read the road, alongside a broader playground next door for younger siblings.

Equipment

An off road pump track with small jumps and banked corners sits on the outer edge, where riders give way to the miniature roadway, and a bike tyre pumping station is on site. The wider Esplanade playground nearby adds a wooden fort with slides, inground trampolines, a bowl rocker, swings, a climbing net, spring loaded see saws, hamster wheels, a wooden house with slide, a solo spinner, a rocktopus, a small carousel, an eagles nest, bars, a flying fox, and a learn to cycle track.

Access and Inclusion

The bike track is fully fenced, and seating and shelter are provided for supervising adults. The wider Esplanade has paved paths suitable for pushchairs, and bikes can be booked in advance for school group visits.

History and Cultural

The park was inspired by a visit to Napier's Junior Cycle Park over the 2013 Christmas holidays, after which a resident led Facebook campaign for a Palmerston North equivalent went viral. ViaStrada was engaged by the council to design the concept, presented at the 2014 2WALKandCYCLE Conference in Nelson, and the park opened in late 2017.

Practical Info

The wider Esplanade has public toilets, a drinking fountain, a barbecue and picnic tables. On street parking is available on Park Road.