Auckland Transport’s board meet tomorrow and I’ve scoured the board reports for any interesting information. Here’s what caught my attention.

Projects

East West Link Connections

A detailed business case for the project is being worked on and will go to the board in April. AT still haven’t officially said which option they’ve chosen from their consultation back in October however this image – from a draft version of the RLTP (page 57) in the December Board meeting and which includes a note saying the map is not to be released to public prior to January 2015 – suggests it’s either option C or D.

East-West Priorities Dec-14

South-Western Multi-Modal Airport Rapid Transit (SMART)

AT say work on the design of the Kirkbride interchange includes future proofing for either light or heavy rail. The RLTP notes that this future proofing is costing AT $30 million which seems extremely high considering the rest of the interchange costs $140 million. One reason it could be so high is I understand the the NZTA team working on the project didn’t originally include rail in their designs despite rail to the airport having been on plans for decades along with other parts of the NZTA working with AT on the route.

Wynyard Quarter – Integrated Road Programme

We should start seeing more roadworks in the Wynyard Quarter in April with AT expecting to issue a contract mid Feb. Works for stage one are Halsey Street South and Gaunt Street between Daldy and Halsey. I’m not quite sure just what changes we’re going to see yet though.

Franklin Road

AT say they will feed back analysis of the submissions in March and I’ve heard rumours the current thinking greatly improved on what we saw earlier. An email update a few weeks ago suggested they were looking at whether parking between the trees could be retained in some situations.

Westgate

AT say the new mall being built as part of the new town centre is due to open in October this year and that new bus services to the area (new network) are due in October 2016. Those bus services will also need an interchange constructed and AT are trying to work out just how they will do that. They say resource consent will be needed and almost certainly will be publicly notified for which any submission will delay the project. A temporary interchange is being planned

Penlink

Work is still going on to update and amend the designation for Penlink and consent will be notified in early 2015 however a recent press release states that due to funding constraints, construction of Penlink is not anticipated until 2025. There are two open days about it, one this afternoon.

  • Thursday 19 Feb, 2pm-7pm, The Peninsula Retirement Village (441 Whangaparapoa Road, Whangaparaoa)
  • Saturday 21 Feb, 10am-2pm, Stillwater Boat Club (70 Duck Creek Road, Stillwater)

Otahuhu Interchange

The demolition of the old foot bridge and piling for the new station happened over the Christmas shutdown and AT say the construction for the interchange itself will begin in June. It’s due to be completed in February 2016 at which time the New Network for South Auckland can finally be rolled out.

Manukau Interchange

Consent is currently being sought for the enabling works for the interchange and AT are hoping to have the project completed in the first quarter of next year.

EMUs

At the time of writing the report AT say there were 42 of the 57 trains in the country and 32 of them had provisional acceptance. They also say that services in December were affected by issues with the signalling system and there had been some door closing issues. The door issues were upgraded over the break but the signalling ones are still being worked on.

Newmarket Crossing (Sarawia St level Crossing)

AT have created three concept designs and have taken feedback from residents and Manu Whenua into them. AT are wanting to lodge resource consent for the project in February and in the past have said that this project is required before they can deliver 10 minute frequencies on the Western Line. Given the stage it’s at and that some of the residents of Cowie St are bound to go to the environment court over it, it could be years before we see any peak frequency improvements out west.

Puhinui

AT are planning to upgrade Puhinui station with most of the works completed in March and April and with a new canopy installed in June

Swanson Station Park and Ride

The extended park & ride is expected to be completed by the end of April.

Onewa Rd

Also to be completed by the end of April are the works to deliver the westbound transit lane and shared path.

Other stuff

Parking

One piece of good news is that parking officers are experiencing the lowest recorded volumes of aggression towards them and there have been no serious harm injuries since October

AT also say the removal of earlybird parking has meant lease revenue is ahead of forecast and in addition casual occupancy and revenue in the downtown carpark is increasing. The latter part is particularly good as it means the carpark is being used by more people throughout the day which was exactly one of the aims of removing the earlybird prices.

Taxi’s on Grafton Bridge

A 12 month trial allowing taxi’s on to Grafton Bridge will start in late March and AT will be monitoring bus travel times, cyclist safety and amenity along with how many infringements get issued. If any significant issues arise during the trial it can be stopped. AT say the Taxi Federation and Cycle Action Auckland have been involved in the development of the proposal.

Personally I don’t think AT should have even entertained the idea of allowing Taxi’s on the bridge and should have actually gone the other way and making it bus only 24/7.

Double Decker Bus Mitigation Project

To get double deckers on the streets AT need to complete a whole lot of mitigation works to ensure the buses don’t damage things or get damaged themselves. This includes moving power poles, veranda modifications, kerb build-outs and tree pruning. They plan to have this work done by June to enable double deckers from Howick and Eastern to start running. Mt Eden is the next route planned for mitigation works which is meant to happen in the next financial year however AT are awaiting the outcome of the LRT proposal before making any changes.

On the Howick and Eastern Double Deckers, a press release yesterday announced the company was spending $12 million on buying 15 double deckers – most of which would be built in Tauranga. They will operate between Botany and the City Centre. The most interesting aspect of these buses is that they will also include free WiFi, power points and USB ports. Those are great additions and hopefully something we start to see become standard on all PT vehicles and I certainly think they should be on our new trains. The buses are from Alexander Dennis – the same maker as the small NZ Bus buses.

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37 comments

        1. Of course I thought it through, that’s why I said it 😉 (it was a joke). Was going to add that we could also call the Manukau line the MEX and require a heap of tacky Mexican restaurants around the station.

    1. The obvious question here is, why hasn’t Westgate been designed with an interchange in mind from the start? This trying to shoehorn stuff in after the fact is getting pretty boring, not to mention expensive.

      1. Actually was plan was to put buses next to library however issue was it wasn’t thought through and all buses would have had to travel through the proposed shared space town square


  1. Re: Penlink. Both local councillors, the local board, and the local MP are pushing for this so it’s not surprising it’s there. Unfortunately AT’s business case has some very misleading information, although not so much misleading rather more, what has been left out. While it paints PENLINK as having a very good outcome for trip times from Whangaparoa to Oteha Valley Rd, it omits trip times from Oteha Valley Rd to the city in the same time periods. These will be much worse for vehicles by then as, even now at 6:15 or so in the morning, it is already very congested and often the motorway is stopped at Oteha Valley Rd. What will this be like in 2024? Especially given the level of development around the Millwater/Orewa area and other developments I’m just hearing rumors about now. What the area is going to need is a RTN line right into Orewa/Silverdale. Sooner rather than later.

    1. Absolutely. Rapid Transit would help the entire Northern Motorway not just a fast part of the small picture. How much.more evidence does the transport industry need? Put an express feed on Whangaparoa Rd leading to the busway.

      1. How about a bridge across St Heliers to Howick and just look at time savings from Howick to St Heliers? And no impact to Tamaki Dr they could put in a busway there?isn’t that what AMETI is doing maximising rail and putting an RTN in plus seperated cycling? and reducing car dependency?

        1. Then what?

          Do we want a flood of traffic along Tamaki Drive caused by Howick and Pakuranga folks seeking to get to work that way – ruining the best waterfront we have with yet more cars?

          And no bridge – A tunnel or nothing, and not for cars – LRT or rail, not a 3 lane each way AWHC in drag.

        2. I suspect most of those Pakuranga & Howick folks are already using the back roads of Panmure and Glen Innes to get to Kohi or Tamaki Drive. If there was ever a region that was perfect for light rail, it’s Howick/Botany/Pakuranga. Link it up with the Panmure station and you’ve got a solid 10,000 cars off the road, easy.

  2. “It could be years before we see any peak frequency improvements out west.”

    Faaaannnntastic. Every single service on the western line needs to be a 6 car EMU, otherwise there’s no capacity for growth

    1. It’s a good thing that $1.4b dollar eye saw was money well spent and ticking all the modes then with an unbiased approach to capacity and amenity. Meanwhile the rail line able to take 10 lanes in a single bound hasn’t got enough trains? NZTA you guys are awesome!!!!

    2. I’m pretty interested to see how long it will be before there is a requirement for more EMU.

      It’s a splendid problem to have.

    1. Without Penlink the entire Peninsular is held hostage to a single road. This includes buses. Whilst the main drive for Penlink is to speed up travel times for cars, the more important factor is to provide an alternate route and to provide capacity for PT (not to mention it will be a lot more user friendly for cycling/walking – shorter distance and not up and down lots of hills like Whangaparaoa Rd!). I’m 100% for Penlink. A lot of people out there seem to think it is a luxury etc. They don’t realise how long journey times actually are out on the Peninsular! (From Albany bus station to Gulf Harbour is 27 minutes with no traffic and all green lights, with traffic this becomes over an hour – and it’s getting worse. Another example is Gulf Harbour to North Shore Hospital…34 mins without traffic and green lights..which pretty much is never the case there’s always traffic on this route! So even an ambulance is likely to take about 45 minutes or more in heavy traffic (oh and they have to get out to Gulf Harbour first!). Put Penlink in and this would cut at least 10 minutes off. For everyone else it will reduce emissions from stop-start traffic both on the Peninsular but also reduce the traffic on HBC Hwy to Red Beach, Silverdale and Orewa etc.
      Of course what is really needed is a much better PT system on the coast as it is a joke at present. Firstly fares from Silverdale to Albany are about $9 one way (it’s motorway the whole way non-stop! so should be more like $4). If Penlink is built then better bus services to the Peninsular would encourage more people to catch them. At the moment they sit in the same traffic as everyone else so why would you bother when you aren’t saving any money due to the fares being so high?

      1. So what if its a one road in/out – Devonport is in exactly the same boat, but we don’t see a requirement for a “DevonLink” motorway bridge on the plans do we?

        Everyone who moved to Whangaparoa and Gulf Harbour **knew** thats what it was before they moved there, they knew there was 1 way in 1 way out.
        If they find they don’t like it when they get there, well, my heart bleeds for them, but not my pocket.

        Penlink will be tolled as its expensive to build as proposed, and the toll each way will be quite high to users. Are *you* prepared for a $10 toll to use it or do you think everyone else out there should pay it?
        And the scope for intensification under the AUP is near zero so the catchment of toll payers will be pretty much fixed in size from the day it opens.

        Would agree with a cheaper PT only bridge could be better than motorway bridge – but thats not on the agenda.

        1. 1) Devonport is not 1 road in 1 road out and has multiple alternatives along its length. Whangaparaoa Rd literally has choke points with zero alternative routes. Not to mention more people live there than Devonport, Devonport has multiple and frequent ferry alternatives and is mostly flat or close to it meaning it is easier for cycling etc (and it’s close).
          2) Must be nice to sit on your high horse in expensive real estate in Auckland. Most people live on the coast because it is more affordable.
          3) Penlink has been planned and designated for decades (I think it was in the 60’s that the land was set aside for it). There has been an expectation that it was to be built long ago.

        2. 1) Not true. Devo has 1 road.
          2) A slightly more valid point, BUT people move to the peninsula because they get a home AND a garden. Most could afford something closer to city centre that is either smaller or has no garden. I am not saying that’s for everyone, or that everyone should live that way – but when voting for more greenspace at a lower price by buying up there, you have to accept that it comes with downsides. That’s why it’s cheaper. You don’t automatically have a right to ratespayers building you a new road presto-pronto. Also, PT improvements would help you arguably more than road improvements, yet I don’t see penlink being a busway!
          3) The CRL and many other PT projects have been on the cards – and “expected to be built” for far longer. In the case of the CRL, it was mooted in the 1920s as the “Morningside Deviation”. I can appreciate the frustrations about delays on a desired project (get them ALL the time on non-road projects, more often than on roads!) but decisions on transport investment need to be taken on their value to the city, not on whether they have been promised for a long time.

        3. Actually you can do two roads. But you have to cross Lake Road at the signals at Winscom and Bardia and use Coronation St to go towards the bakery (Little and Fridays- just excellent!). The only part where there is one route is in Takapuna for the short bit from Hart to Ewen.

      2. 1) I agree with Greg. Don’t move to a peninsula and then complain about one road in and out.

        2) The time savings will not be as described in AT’s business case. Sure, it will save a few minutes to the Northern motorway. After that however, the northern mwy is getting more congested by the day. Add in the development in Millwater, Orewa Nth and eventually Warkworth (once Puhoi – Warkworth is built) and you will be looking at some serious congestion on that piece of road at peak (even off peak it is busy now). It is common to find traffic at a standstill at Albany Hill/Oteha Valley Rd at 6:20 am on a regular basis already.

        3) PENLINK will actually hurt bus services on Whangaparoa as it will split the services so trip time may be slightly faster but frequency will have to drop.

        4) Almost all development is away from Whangaparoa.

        5) A real RTN (busway or rail) into Orewa/Silverdale will provide a much more beneficial return on expenditure long terM.

        And I know exactly how long it takes to get to Gulf Harbour. Real estate agents tried topersuade us to move there. No damned way would I deal with that drive. My choice. No one was forced to move to the end of a peninsula.

      3. Congestion is bad for everyone took me 25 min to go 4km on Ti Rakau drive yesterday. The answer is clearly rapid transit, seperated cycling and a high frequency bus feeder collecting people. Getting people into other modes is the answer. Travel times will come down, feeding car growth is not a success story for anyone except the petroleum and road building industries. The fact is there is plenty of work, it just needs to be fully in the right direction with a 3 pronged rail, bus and cycle. Worldwide the pendulum has swung multi modal, car already has a full global network time for others to fully catch up so there is choice and balance.

        1. Here you go Stu: detained, incarcerated, locked up, caged, constrained, curbed, impounded, interned, limited, restrained, stockaded, bottled up, captive, in custody, prisoner…
          But hey please continue being a pompous g**.

  3. @Sailor Boy… Have lived in Devonport area for several years along the way so know it very well (seemingly much better than you do if you care to look at the following map!)
    http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af162/zkpilot2/New%20Paint.png
    oh but wait there’s more! Here is a map including alternate no road ways out of Devonport to close by areas (e.g the city where a bus back to Takapuna is quite simple and quick if needed). http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af162/zkpilot2/New%20Paint%20-%20Copy.png
    But hey don’t let the facts stand in your way….

  4. @Imperial Advocacy League: Your argument is flawed. Do people choose to live in Remuera, Herne Bay, Parnell, Epsom? Some do the rest don’t. Why? Because the majority of people can’t afford to! It’s not a choice they get to make, people live where they can afford usually with an influence based on where they work. So if that is moronic as you call it then I think it is in fact you that is being the self entitled ****. Why build the Harbour Bridge? Surely everyone on the North Shore is moronic and should have to drive via Upper Harbour (and Coatesville before that)! No wait, anyone living in East Auckland should have to travel down to Manukau first before coming back up to Auckland because they must be moronic for wanting to live somewhere…. Same with Mission Bay, the airport, Onehunga etc.

    1. Three years ago we did some serious research into where we wanted to live. North shore coastal areas.. easy walk to the beach, dogs, sand, sea and hour long commutes. Versus city fringe with a tiny section,small dog and the ability to walk or cycle or catch either train or bus to work. For very similar costs. When we put a value on our time, hands down city fringe won. As Bryce points out, even with a new car link to the motor way, you will still face ever increasing congestion as soon as you hit the motorway, given that NZTA is will very kindly subsidise urban sprawl as far as Warkworth. Perhaps you could move to Warkworth?

    2. Obviously everywhere has it’s pros and cons. The only ones where we can put the blame on a disfunctioning transport network is actually the transport industry. Has there been better capacity choices all the time..yes rail been around a long time. Was Public Transport recommended to go in sync with roading…yes. Are there cities with massive cycle mode share…yes. Has the ship even now fully turned in this direction yet…no. From being at the board meeting yesterday certainly the public and also Auckland Transport Board want change. Frankly they probably could whole network in one concerted hit and change the whole priority car and car parking not No 1 try No 5 or 6 on the arterials including intersection priority. NZTA should be maximising electric rail and busways not bloody LA freeways..Waterview Western Ring WTF!!

  5. Again another great thing about this blog. We are all getting up with the play. The public probably knows more thing about Transport than NZTA does!!! Does NZTA look smart, following professional engineering ethics yes or no?

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