‘Relentless disruption’ to traffic in CBD
Cyclists pleased with plan but AA says AT should not have free rein
A major route into Auckland’s CBD is expected to be a disrupted traffic choke-point until mid-2020.
It will cause headaches for commuters as more return to work from their summer breaks next week to find the city littered with road cones.
According to the Auckland Transport website, there are 38 sets of road closures relating to roadworks across the city centre over summer. Another three closures are scheduled for later in the year.
Work on the construction of the $5.3 million Victoria St cycleway, between Beaumont and Nelson Sts, and the eventual resurfacing of Victoria St West, began during the week of December 23.
A loose timeline set out by Auckland
Transport for the roadworks along the arterial west-east route into the city has broken down the construction into three stages, to be completed “mid-2020”.
Stage one is signalled from late December 2019 to late February 2020, and involves installing the cycleway, new bus stops, upgrading kerbs, footpaths, crossings, drainage, traffic signals and street lighting.
Eight trees will also be removed or relocated, and replaced with new trees.
Stage two will begin from late February 2020 and involve resurfacing the road and require night works.
Stage three is ambiguously designated as starting “approximately 6 weeks after stage 2 is complete”, and involved applying the coloured surface to the cycleway and installing its concrete separators. However, it is not entirely clear how long stage 2 will take, so that stage 3 can commence.
Automobile Association infrastructure adviser Barney Irvine said the Victoria St cycleway was another contributor to “a period of massive, relentless disruption to traffic in the
CBD. The Victoria St work will be yet another source of pain for anyone who has to drive regularly through the CBD.
“At the moment it feels a bit like there’s no escape: no matter which way you turn, there’s another set of road works holding you up.
“A lot of the changes will be great for the city, so it’s often a case [of ] eggs needing to get cracked to make the omelette — but that doesn’t mean AT has free rein.
“AT needs to do a much better job of being clear with the public about exactly what’s coming.”
Significant changes to the streetscape include the permanent closure of access to Wellesley St West from Victoria St West.
Existing slip lanes on the Halsey/ Victoria/Wellesley intersection will be removed as will 14 on-street carparks alongside Victoria Park.
Speed tables, which are described as long speed humps, will be added to the entrances of Dock St and Graham St. Union St will be entirely closed down from the end of January until late February while a speed table is constructed at the entrance.
Waitemata¯ Local Board’s transport leader Graeme Gunthorp praised the safety of the streetscape change.
“The slip lanes, which have no place in cities or town centres, will be removed, and the kerb will be built out,” Gunthorp said.
“This vital connection links the cycleways on Franklin Rd and Nelson St, so you can bike or scooter from Ponsonby to the city — all on a separated and safe bike path. This is how we create a connected network.”
Auckland Councillor for the Waitemata¯ and Gulf Ward Pippa Coom said the Victoria St cycleway was essential for connecting together the CBD’s existing bike network.
“We need to connect Franklin Rd with the city centre. It’s been long planned and the construction is unfortunate, with there being so many projects converging at the same time.
“It’s important that it gets built as fast as possible, and at the quiet time. Hopefully it doesn’t get delayed.”
Bike Auckland’s Barbara Cuthbert said the completion date of mid-2020 for the cycleway was actually “staggeringly fast”.
“If it’s planed for completion in the middle of 2020 that’ll be one of the fastest projects AT’s ever delivered,” Cuthbert said.
“It’s mainstreaming people into the main street of the city centre in Queen St.”
Downer Construction, which is undertaking the project, has informed residents and business owners along Victoria St West that most of the work would be done between 7am and 10pm — “however some night work will be required”.
Auckland Transport received 324 submissions on the cycleway design via public consultation in 2017 and found 61 per cent “overall support for the project” and 46 per cent “general opposition”.
However, the majority of those submissions were from cyclists — with only 9 per cent of submitters indicating “I would never cycle”.
Auckland Transport’s Mark Hannan said January was targeted every year to undertake a substantial bulk of the road upgrades and it was nothing dramatically out of the ordinary.