The Planning Paradox
Whilst I like to think of myself as a “public transport advocate”, in my ‘day job’ I’m a planner. This has influenced the angle to which I view transportation matters, and as I have explained before, has really determined many of my opinions on transport.…
27 Comments Progress on Avondale & New Lynn
I went through Avondale and New Lynn today, so decided to take just a few photos showing progress on the upgrades to the train stations in both these suburbs. I think most of the current focus is on getting the areas around Newmarket and Grafton sorted out, as there weren’t a huge number of workers around, but it is clear that progress is being made on these upgrades during the rail shutdown period.…
The Annual Traffic Jam
The NZ Herald reports that the new Orewa-Puhoi motorway has done little to fix congestion heading northwards on the worst day of the year for traffic jams heading that way – December 27th. Instead of the bottleneck being through Orewa, it’s now where the two laned motorway cuts down to one lane – proof perhaps that road-widening generally shifts rather than solves congestion?…
Kingdon Street station goes
After some last-ditch efforts to save the Newmarket West station, it appears as though today the station is being demolished. From Auckland Trains:
The debate about Kingdon continues this morning.
A dismayed ARC chairman Mike Lee, who had made a last minute plea for talks on the issue, called it “stupidity” and said: “As the saying goes ‘worse than a crime – a mistake.’”…
Merry Xmas
Well Merry Xmas everyone. I’ve finished with work for the year and a couple of weeks of very nice holidays beckon. It’s likely that my posting will reduce in frequency over the next couple of weeks, particularly in early January as I’m likely to be out of Auckland for a few days.…
Biggest Transport Stories of 2009
As we’re getting pretty close to the end of the year, we have the opportunity to look back at 2009 in a holistic manner. I suppose that overall it has been a topsy-turvy year for transport – with some particular highs and particular lows.…
Airport Wakes up to Importance of PT
After quite some time when nobody was really sure what the Auckland Airport company thought about the idea of a rail link from there to the CBD, it does indeed appear as though the airport has finally realised that this might indeed be a good idea.…
Auckland vs Wellington – the transport battle
One of the most interesting aspects of following transport this year has been the emerging divide between what central government in Wellington wants to be the direction for transport to take, and what the Auckland Regional Council – and increasingly other local politicians – want.…
Waterview Connection route changes AGAIN!
An interesting announcement by NZTA today that the preferred alignment for the Waterview Connection motorway link has changed again – and quite significantly so.Here’s the full press release from NZTA:
Fewer affected homes and less disruption for revised Western Ring Route
Design improvements for the Waterview Connection section of Auckland’s Western Ring Route will require fewer houses and significantly reduce disruption to residents and commuters on Great North Road.…
Balancing transport
As a planner, a lot of my work is based around the much-maligned Resource Management Act, and various aspects of it. This piece of legislation generally finds itself being attacked on multiple fronts – whether it’s from land developers considering it as far too much “red tape” for anyone’s good, or whether it’s from environmentalists thinking that it’s far too weak in protecting the environment.…
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