Auckland Transport have announced that they will finally add a transit lane westbound on Onewa Rd. The omission of a westbound transit lane has long been an issue so I guess it’s a case of better late than never.

Congestion on one of the North Shore’s busiest roads will be reduced with the introduction of a T3 lane for westbound traffic on Onewa Rd during evening peak.

The T3 lane is an additional lane on Onewa Rd operating between 4pm-6pm, Mon-Fri from Church St to 135 metres east of Birkenhead Ave and is made possible by the removal of car parking between these hours. Only vehicles with three or more occupants, buses, cyclists and taxis are allowed on T3 lanes.

The move will reduce travel times for all vehicles on Onewa Rd, says Auckland Transport’s Group Manager Public Transport Mark Lambert. “It will not only lead to quicker bus journey times and encourage carpooling and cycling on this section of road, but all traffic will see benefits. That is because vehicles with more than three occupants and buses will be able to use the T3 lane rather than the general traffic lane. That will make journey times quicker for everyone.”

To encourage cyclists of all abilities to use this section of Onewa Rd, there will also be an upgrade of the existing footpath to create a shared pedestrian/cycle path adjacent to the T3 lane on the south side of Onewa Rd.

The Kaipatiki Local Board is very supportive of new westbound T3 lane on Onewa Road,” says Kaipatiki Local Board Chair Kay McIntyre. “We want to encourage more people to use public transport. It is a big priority in our local board plan and this new T3 lane will help us deliver on this.”

The added lane will effectively prioritise higher occupancy vehicles along the proposed route. This will allow a more effective use of the available road space and improve efficiency of public transport which is Auckland Transport’s first priority.

As outlined in the Regional Public Transport Plan, AT is proposing future bus services along this route that are timetabled to operate at least every 15 minutes between 7am to 7pm, seven days a week, which will make the provision of bus facilities along Onewa Road even more important.

The survey results showed that 48% of passengers travelled in 7% of transit vehicles (buses and vehicles with three or more people).

Currently there is a T3 lane on Onewa Rd eastbound between 6.30am-9am, Mon-Fri. This is a well-functioning T3 lane with 65% of passengers travelling on 18% of all vehicles using the T3 lane.

What is happening?

Parking will not be permitted on Onewa Rd, westbound between Church St and 135 east of Birkenhead Ave between 4pm-6pm, Mon-Fri.

This creates a new lane between these hours which will be for T3 vehicles only.

The following modes of transport only are allowed on the T3 lane:

Buses, vehicles with three or more occupants, motorcyclists, cyclists and taxis

When is it happening?

Construction will begin February 2015 and be completed in June 2015.

Onewa-overview-road-map

There are a few things I’m not sure about, like why the transit lane doesn’t start till after Lake Rd instead of from the motorway and the closing time of 6pm seems too early, 6:30 or 7pm would be more appropriate. However overall this seems like a good project for bus users who travel along Onewa Rd.

There’s more information on the AT page for the project.

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19 comments

  1. It’s strange that this went out for feedback and supposedly the feedback they got meant they decided not to do it. Now, a year later they are doing it exactly as was originally proposed. Anyone know the story behind the timing? I also wonder why it doesn’t stretch down to the motorway. In my evening bus taking experience it’s always a crawl up to lake road and then starts speeding up.

  2. I am glad to hear that westbound cyclists will get an off-road alternative here. Onewa Road is a steep climb in this direction and cyclists will be slow. Sharing a narrow T3 lane with motor vehicles would likely be unviable, since pulling out to overtake a cyclist will be impossible if the other lane is choc full of SOV’s.

    1. Always a bit of conflict with this one. Yes the cyclists may be off road and away from sharing with buses but they will be directly exposed to driveways and reversing vehicles and from memory there are a lot of high fences along the property boundaries along this road reducing sight lines even further. Are either options really that safe?

      1. You still have the option to use the road so which ever you feel safest on I guess.

        Not ideal but space is at a premium.

      2. A lot of school kids and parents use the footpath in the morning weekdays too, so not ideal from pedestrian safety perspective either having a shared path on such a busy footpath

  3. A few comments as a regular bus passenger on Onewa Road:

    – The hours arn’t long enough – should go through to 7pm at least and should probably start at 3pm (however that would never be accepted by the school Mums)

    – It doesn’t start till after Lake Road. Practically I can see why they did that as otherwise, the car lane would get held up by those wanting to turn in Lake Road. However, it does impact on the main cause of the congestion.

    – Residents should be told that this is only a temporary change. That is, soon or later, Onewa Road will be a clear way in both directions 24/7. With PTOM and increased bus frequencies, having buses continually pulling in and out of the only lane of traffic slows down everyone. A clearway, even if not a dedicated bus/T3 lane would help everyone. This is a main aterial and should be treated as such, not as a car park used as a lane during peak hours.

    – Single occupant cars will probably complain but by not having buses pull into their lane, they should be much quick. My guess is that most of the time, even cars with 3 would be faster in the ‘car lane’.

    1. Problem is especially werkends around the church St Mary’s in particular. parking is limited for the church and removing parking from Onewa Rd will mean even less parking for church goers. The church wanted to buy the Z station for parking but unfortunately the gas station thought it would be better to be beside the church than a parking lot for the church

      1. You mean the church goers who bring Onewa road to a standstill every Sunday?

        The church could have bought the land.

  4. AT need to look at changing their default bus lane hours, traffic is probably worse at 6PM than almost any other time.
    Another one of those simple changes that would really improve PT in Auckland at very little cost that is being completely overlooked!

  5. This seems like a good project. Improvements have been needed on Onewa eastbound for a while. The worst part in the pm is just east of the Lake rd intersection where the road narrows to 1 lane from 2 through the intersection. There is a bus stop immediately after the intersection, and when there is a bus stopped there the traffic backs up as it tries to both merge and go around the bus. Often it backs up through the Queen St intersection and down to the motorway.

    The section from the motorway up to Queen St is usually very congested and I assume the reason that the new T3 doesnt extend down to there. There doesnt seem to be a lot of room to widen the road either.

  6. Didn’t we get rid of 6pm closing in the 1960s? If you’re going to do it, do it properly; the lane should run until at least 7pm.

  7. For a pedestrian since there will be four lanes of traffic and only two set of lights to cross it will be dangerous since most people there prefer to jaywalk. its already difficult with one lane crawling. have one lane crawling and the other moving your looking at dodgeball as a pedestrian

    1. This is a good point and should be raised. Hard to know where to put one in. You cant put one in at every cross road and/or bus stop..

      1. But that will leave Onewa Rd looking very cluttered with traffic ligths only useful when pedestrians cross just like the one at the church and near Northcote College. Other problem is side street vehicles and getting out of them. Its hard to do it free flowing or stopped and rush hour is worse when there are so many vehicles. Side street drivers turning into it maybe stuck for eternity

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