It doesn’t seem to take much to get residents along the Devonport Peninsula to quickly cursing Lake Rd and over the years I’ve seen many comments across all forms of media and politicians calling for the road to be upgraded as a priority – and by upgraded the implication is for it to be widened. One such example is below from a month ago.

But Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member Jan O’Connor said Belmont was not an apartment area.

Building that number of extra homes would have a major impact on the already congested Lake Rd, the only route in and out of the peninsula, O’Connor said.

“Our board has really opposed any redevelopment until the Lake Road issue is addressed,” she said.

“It’s been like this for many years, it’s not something that’s just cropped up.”

Local residents Lesley and Myles Opie said the old navy housing area was a “shambles” and needed upgrading, but over 300 new homes would create unmanageable traffic.

“It’s going to be a massive increase in cars,” Myles Opie said.

As an aside, the 300-350 homes Ngati Whatua plan to build would represent just a ~3.5% increase over what’s on the peninsula now. Compared to the levels of growth in many other parts of the city that’s a tiny change. There is also not a huge amount of growth allowed for within the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.

Some other examples from a quick google search include this, this and this.

A lot of the commenters have also blamed the painted cycle lanes for causing congestion problems on Lake Rd even though the addition of lanes in the late 2000’s didn’t remove any vehicle lanes.

Those hoping for their own personal expressway up the peninsula are likely to be disappointed though if Auckland Transport’s plans for the corridor go ahead. They are about to start an Indicative Business Case to look at improvements along Lake Rd and that will build on the work already undertaken for the Corridor Management Plan which was completed in December 2014.

For some reason AT don’t publish their Corridor Management Plans (CMP) but they should be public in my view. However, the Lake Rd CMP was included in the agenda (27MB) for a meeting of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board last month (unfortunately due to the way the document is uploaded the images are low quality and can be difficult to read). CMPs incorporate a wide range of factors to create a 30 year strategic management plan including what if any changes might be made.

Lake Rd CMP area
The Lake Rd CMP area

My first thought is well done AT (and consultants), the vision is fantastic and exactly the kind of thinking that is needed across so much of our urban area. So what does the Lake Rd CMP say?

Network Role

The network role of the corridor was determined through a workshop process with technical stakeholders drawn from Auckland Transport, Auckland Council and the NZ Transport Agency.

Cyclists and pedestrians have been identified as the highest priority along the entire length of the corridor given the existing popularity for cycling and walking for recreation and commuting purposes to work and schools, their potential for growth and strategic policies requiring their increased support.

Public Transport has been recognised also as a high priority along the northern half of Lake Road, given its future use as a frequent bus route and the ability for this mode to increase the person carrying capacity of the corridor. South of old Lake Road this priority drops back to low as this section of Lake Road services few buses (and no frequent route).

Traffic has been identified as medium priority along the length of the corridor. This level is not so much a reflection of existing or future demand, but rather a strategic choice to provide greater focus and support for active modes and public transport to maximise the people moving capacity of the corridor.

Freight is generally identified as low priority as there are comparative minor levels of industrial and commercial activity along the peninsula.

I’ll cover the modes a little more shortly but first here are some demand forecasts for the peninsula over 30 years.

Population and employment growth are far lower on than for the rest of Auckland. According to Stats NZ there are about 27,000 on the peninsula and there is expected to be less than 10% growth over 30 years.

Lake Rd CMP Land Use

PT and Active modes are also expected to grow at a much faster rate than general traffic – although they start from lower levels.

Lake Rd CMP Transport Demand

Here are the strategies for each mode.

Pedestrians:

They say “a significant proportion of the land is relatively flat and with a well-connected grid of side streets in comparison to many other parts of Auckland” and that there are a wide range of destinations that are often in a short proximity to each other and so highly walkable. The plan includes increasing the frequency and quality of crossing opportunities, widened footpaths where there are current deficiencies, removal of shared paths where separated cycle-lanes can be installed and improved amenity elements (tree planting etc.)

Lake Rd CMP Walking

Cycling:

AT have recognised that the painted cycle lanes are not great for many people who may want to bike such as those less confident on the road and children. They are proposing to substantially improve them including separating them from traffic where possible.

Lake Rd CMP Cycling

Public Transport:

Public transport will be improved through high quality, better spaced and located stops and transit lanes where possible. While not part of the Lake Rd CMP, the map includes a potential bus bridge across Upper Shoal Bay connecting Akoranga to Takapuna which comes from a previous study into transport for Takapuna but they say would be relevant for the Lake Rd CMP.

Lake Rd CMP PT

General Traffic, freight and parking:

Due to the focus on active and PT modes there is very little suggested to change conditions for general traffic. They say that a substantial upgrade to traffic capacity such as four laning the section between Jutland Road and Bayswater Ave is unlikely to be appropriate, citing the high cost relative to benefits as well as the impacts on other modes and urban amenity.

Lake Rd already has low levels of on street parking. The CMP says it recommends retaining parking on the street through the Belmont local centre to “provide support to the economic viability and success of this local centre” but also say the design needs to be balanced with the objective of achieving continuous cycle lanes through Belmont shops junction.

Lake Rd CMP General Traffic

Urban Design amenity and place-making:

They say that while some parts of Lake Rd have retained their heritage landscape qualities, the rest of Lake Rd would benefit from regular street tree planting although that needs to avoid compromising the footpath width. They also say it would bring a number of benefits transport-wise such as visually narrowing the street corridor, thereby slowing traffic and providing a buffering for footpaths and potentially cycle lanes from moving traffic. Trees would also enhance residential property values and the local centre functions at Hauraki corner and Belmont Shops.

The CMP divides up Lake Rd into six distinctive segments each with its own strategy. The preferred spatial allocations for each segment are also shown.

Lake Rd CMP Corridor Segments

Segment A – Esmonde Rd to Jutland Rd

Lake Rd CMP Segment A

Segment B – Jutland Rd to Bayswater Ave

Lake Rd CMP Segment B

Segment C – Bayswater Ave to old Lake Rd

Lake Rd CMP Segment C

Segment D – Old Lake Rd to Seabreeze Rd

Lake Rd CMP Segment D

Segment E – Seabreeze Rd to Ariho Tce

Lake Rd CMP Segment E

Segment F – Ariho Tce to Albert Rd

Lake Rd CMP Segment F

Sections B-D are all essentially the same and an potential alternative version for them is below. The CMP says this would have greater benefits for walkers and cyclists plus urban amenity but would also likely have higher costs due to requiring kerbs, drainage and other utilities to be moved.

Lake Rd CMP Segment B-D Altnerate

At the Belmont shops the CMP gives two potential plans for how to improve either bikes or buses. Both would see the slip lanes removed and the angle parking on the eastern side of the road replaced by parallel parking. The differences between the two are both south of Bayswater Ave, one having a transit lane with a shared path and one having a single lane with a protected cycle lane.

Lake Rd CMP Belmont Shops

Overall the CMP looks great and would really help in turning Lake Rd into a complete St that catered for everyone.

As mentioned AT are about to start an indicative business case which will build on the CMP. This week the local board will decide on its feedback on the scope for it, the main components of which are listed as:

  • assessment of potential transit lanes to improve people-carrying capacity of Lake Road;
  • assessment of better pedestrian and cycle facilities within the peninsula to encourage more short trips by foot or bike;
  • analysis of intersection improvements to optimise traffic flows within the peninsula; and
  • analysis on travel behaviour change opportunities, to reduce and better manage bulk movements within the peninsula.

Given there’s so much else that needs to be done around the region, much of it in areas with far higher growth I’m not sure of the priority of upgrading Lake Rd but at least the thinking on what would be done is heading in the right direction, perhaps just not quite the direction some locals might expect.

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80 comments

    1. Yes. You Te Atatu Rd is a car-dominated transport clusterfudge.

      With lots of parallels to lake rd actually now that i think about it.

    2. Yes true this road is a disaster thats only getting worse. Can’t catch a bus to escape it as it’s caught in this clusterfudge too.

      Edmonton Road to needs some attention if Henderson town centre is looking to build more housing.

  1. AT keep on their spend spend spend crusade of removing slip lanes (which costs a lot to do and for little if any benefit – makes crossing longer and less frequent for pedestrians). Unless AT are going to petition NZTA to allow left turns on a red (like overseas) then all this is just a solution in search of a problem and diverting more funds away from PT!

    Speaking of left turns on a red perhaps this is something that TB could support? Yes it benefits cars however it also reduces congestion, is safer, and would allow for more intersection time for pedestrians and buses etc (as well as freeing up some slip lane space for other purposes). How about it?

    1. Most intersections where it would be any benefit have a separate left turn arrow anyway. I don’t think it would achieve much, and it certainly wouldn’t be safer in the early days of changing the rule.

    2. It’s not safer. Allowing left turn on red (mirrored in the US) been shown to massively increase pedestrian collisions.

      Slip lanes are completely appropriate on arterial road intersections with low pedestrian demand and frequent crossable gaps, they are completely inappropriate in town centres with high pedestrian demands.

    3. The whole point of a red light is to stop cars, considering it appears somehow impossible for drivers to actually come to a stop and give way to pedestrians at zebra crossings and the frequent accidents and deaths that occur there (never blamed on the driver mind you), it would basically make crossing the road in NZ an even more miserable experience than it is. Most Auckland Rd lack any formal crossing facilities, here too the general complete disregard shown by drivers to people crossing (honking, shouting, failing to slow down) demonstrates that drivers can’t be trusted with a free left turn.

      Further, allow left turns would have major safety concerns for intersections where there is a left turn red for cars because bikes have a green straight ahead – cars again already fail to ever give way when turning left – imagine if now we implemented a rule in which there was never any way to force a driver to actually wait their turn.

  2. I know it would be expensive (still less than a second harbour bridge though) but why don’t they consider a second road out of Devonport? Buy some properties, build a road (maybe bus/cycle only, done)

      1. Indeed. The ferry must be considered the principal access to Devenport, and with bikes able to be carried upon them, who would need to negotiate all that car traffic silliness?

        1. People who work on the Shore. I live in Devonport and work in Albany. The ferry is useless to me as a commuting tool as is the bus. Handy if I want to go into town for a few jars though.

        2. But the recent traffic survey found that you are a small minority. Around 80% of the morning traffic at Esmonde was CBD bound.

        3. Really? I have no idea why you’d even bother to drive there. Then again I once met someone who drove from Devonport to the CBD everyday because he had a company carpark and was terrified that he’d lose it.

    1. I agree with this. They should build a new road from Bayswater Ave to Onewa Rd. It could be a North Shore version of Tamaki Dr, a tree lined causeway with short bridges at either end, very similar to Pt Resolution to Orakei if you think about it.

      Pedestrians and cyclists would have a very direct, and lovely, link to Skypath. Buses could easily run across to the harbour bridge, and across town to Birkenhead. Trafific could divert direct to the motorway rather than flooding up through Takapuna and Esmonde. Cost is an issue of course, a causeway over the mudflats would be expensive and a nightmare to consent. Perhaps a toll road then, that would mitigate traffic to some extent and help pay for the thing.

      After all, we’re in the business of building big expensive toll roads off peninsulas right? But seriously, give the locals the trade off. Do you want more lanes and a new road, knowing that it means more traffic through Bayswater? At least with a new road linking to a different place people can understand the impacts. Unfortunately they don’t seem to get that widening the existing road will create more traffic and more problems at intersections, but maybe talking about a new road

      1. If it’s for PT, walking and cycling only it’s quite an interesting idea, although probably prohibitively expensive. If it’s for general traffic too it’s hard to think of a more terrible idea.

      2. I’m really looking forward to this, mainly because the plans look great, but also because of the entertainment that will be caused by Devonportians whining about it for years to come. The local rag in Devonport, the Flagstaff, seems to print a letter or article almost every week complaining about the new cycle lanes on Lake Rd (introduced in 2007), and how they should be removed / clog up traffic / are too socialist etc. I recently saw an article about how AT would soon be double-laning the whole road and getting rid of the cyclelanes. Little do they know…hahahaha.

        All nonsense of course, they have zero impact on traffic as virtually all of the affected stretch of road was only a single traffic lane in each direction anyway, and Lake Rd doesn’t really have traffic issues anyway, perhaps apart from Saturday mornings. At weekday peak times it takes max 10-15 minutes to get to/from Belmont to the start of Esmonde Rd, a fact backed up by AT in this report, Google navigation, and my experience.

        1. I know, the howls of anguish from the peninsula are going to huge, I admit it was one of the things that attracted me to writing the post.

      3. You know Nick,
        Once NZTA get the AWHC crossing tunnel ok, there will a few millions of tons of spoil to be dumped [preferably a rail only tunnel because the alignment works better].

        And in that case I think a way could be found to divert much of the “rock” part of the spoil into such a Tamaki Drive Part 2 creation.

        Of course in the old days, when they built Tamaki Drive, they quarried away whole hillsides, literally to do so, not so much ability to do that now (especially with the RMA and consents – a fact that the old Harbour Board could and did run roughshod over as they pleased).

        Initially the quarrying was just for the Hobson bay railway embankment, but much of the ground work [in all senses of the word] had been done once that railway was built, to allow Tamaki Drive to go ahead as a subsequent project.

        So, there is a precedent for one [public] transport related project to springboard an even better one.

        1. The other reason, sad to say, was that Ngati Whatua owned a lot of the land out there, and the governments of the day were pretty happy to screw them over. There was also untreated sewage flowing straight out onto the beaches and fishing grounds; pretty awful.

      4. Nick I see your reasoning, but I wonder what the chances of getting a Tamaki Drive built now would be? Snowballs, I suspect. People with current uninterrupted sea views expected to be happy about getting a road in the way? Certainly it is a very good thing to put to the drive-a-lots in the area to show the only reasonable consequences of their insistence on this ‘freedom’…

        However there probably is a good case for a boardwalk bike and foot route between Seapath and Bayswater….

        1. Who would be affected though Patrick, not anyone on the western side of Shoal Bay as they already have a motorway running right along there. On the eastern side, it is perhaps a couple of dwellings on the end of the Bayswater peninsula.

        2. Although the boardwalk is a very interesting idea. It would be 1.2km, almost exactly the same as the Orakei to Meadowbank boardwalk. Any idea what that cost?

        3. That was a few million, paid mostly by the Local Board out of its own funding allocations. Its not really wide enough (its 2.7m) so you’d want more like 5m, wich is probably double the cost right there.

          Only about 800 metres is “boardwalk” the rest is on the land at either side, 200m of “on land” walkway at each end, from 1200m overall distance from the two stations = 800m of boardwalk/over the water.

          Pittance really when you look at the cost of widening a road anywhere in Auckland.

      5. Hooray someone who speaks with logic and common sense! An alternative road must be considered as an alternative to Lake Road. Lake road will be at capacity before the widening is even finished. I’m very surprised that many of the posts in here and talk in the media is solely focussed on widening Lake road as the answer. You’re right with how it will look and the tolling is a real option that I think many would pay for. I certainly would if it meant trimming 10-20 minutes off my journey

    2. One question, will this do enough for buses? It’s great for pedestrians and cyclists, and it makes the obvious conclusion that traffic is going to be bad no matter what you do, so clearly doesn’t try to maximise traffic which is great. But what about the bus, is there any hope for fast or reliable bus services if they are always subsurvient to traffic queues for the full length from Devonport to Takapuna?

      The advance transit lane is a good inclusion, but do they need these at every set of lights? Would it do much anyway? Clearly full bus lanes both ways isn’t an option either.

    3. There’s very little benefit in building a new road when the locals fought off any population increase. With that went the funding for transforming transport. In any case if we can’t get a Seapath along the water because of environmental affects I don’t think you’re going to get far with a road reclamation project.

    4. As someone who frequently rides a bike on Lake Rd I attended the AT workshop. I thought I’d have to put up more of a fight for this stuff but It seemed like they really understood how to prioritise things. ie. The schools in the area have some of the highest rates of cycling, but you won’t see many kids using the painted cycle lanes.

      1. Hi Rich,

        Bike Devonport is looking to propose an Eastern Green Route with a separated cycle path along Hamana/Seacliffe to encourage more children to cycle.

        Please contact us on Facebook if you would like to get involved.

    5. Agreed. By the time the 40M is spent to widen Lake road it will be in the same capacity as it is now given the looming housing intensification. If everyone thinks that widening will solve our problems then you’ve got about as much foresight as our inept city planners. For an alternative route to be devised it means some big calls will have to be made firstly to map them out then to convince the NIMBY’s that its a good idea.
      Public transport and Ferry’s are not an alternative for everyone. This is not an option for me and I know many others who live near me cannot use public transport to get to our respective works.
      The paper road first mooted some hundred years ago (and should’ve happened) that would’ve run from the bottom of Barry’s Pt road to Ngataringa park is long gone as an option. The end of Bayswater peninsula to the Onewa interchange is a real option though that would relieve massive congestion. And perhaps the bottom of Barry’s Pt road to Bayswater is another option. This is the foresight that needs to happen now. Widening Lake road is just putting a plaster on the problem, there needs to be additional alternatives put in place now to future proof the peninsula. If we put the 40M into an alternative road now then that would pay for half of the cost and you wouldn’t need to touch Lake road.

      1. Put a bridge from the the Church on Esmonde rd to Francis street in Hauraki – and you then have an alternative route for half the peninsula. It is crazy that there is no possible back route to connect Hauraki, Belmont, Ngataringa – and it does not look like it would be too hard to achieve connecting existing roads (based on looking at Google maps).

    6. A footbridge is a good option for crossing a road only if it’s convenient for all users. That means no long flights of steps, and no ramps unless they’re easily graded and in the general direction that people want to proceed anyway.

      Otherwise, people won’t (or won’t be able) to use it, and will either cross the road on the level anyway, or not walk and perhaps drive, making the problem worse.

      As a general principle if a change of level is required it’s the powered vehicles that should have to do it, rather than the self-powered pedestrian.

  3. I really like the alternative preferred plan where bikes and pedestrians are better separated from traffic. One of the issues with the current bike lanes is that they are just a painted line from Lake Road’s high volume and fast-moving traffic. The proposed alternative is much safer, and looks to be somewhat better in terms of exposure to noise and air pollution as well. There are so many schools in the area, and having safe cycling along Lake Road will be a wonderful boost to local cycling with perhaps a useful reduction in vehicle traffic at the school peaks. I hope it goes ahead even though it is a bit more work and expense.

    This is good work from AT and it’s nice to see. I don’t mind so much that there aren’t bus lanes provided for the southern segments, because many of the buses are routed via Narrow Neck and those routes can easily accommodate 10-minute frequencies.

    Overall I’m so pleased and relieved that they didn’t succumb to the road-widening lobby, because it’s already dangerous enough trying to cross Lake Road. The issue with congestion isn’t going to go away by making more lanes – only fixing the motorway on-ramp bottleneck and getting more frequent, cheaper integrated public transport will deal with that – so again well done to AT on pressing ahead with a plan that is balanced and safer for all.

  4. I like the “indicative upper Shoal Bay link”, it would allow buses to come from Taharoto or Milford pass through Takapuna to Akoranga Station without the current need to double back or to use Esmonde Rd, thus making better use of the Takapuna bus station

    1. Agreed, so long as they build it with Light Rail in mind, as LR is looking like the obvious next harbour crossing, and not least of all because of its ability to combine both RTN capabilities with some street running. Like a branch to a Takapuna Station, and even beyond.

      1. I have always maintained that Takapuna (a sub-regional centre) needs more than a branch, it needs a full loop through Milford, reconnecting at Smales Station

        1. A Takapuna-Milford-Smales Farm route is relatively flat and straight. It could be done quite easily (remember: there was a tram line over much of this route before).

          East Coast Road is quite hilly and windy, but I understand (from a former mayor of East Coast Bays) that the East Coast Road road reserve is 30+m because it was planned to have provision for the continuation of a rail route from the City to Devonport, up the peninsula, through Takapuna and Milford, and northwards alongside East Coast Road – not sure where to, maybe all the way to Orewa, and beyond. The southern section of this route was indicated in plans of the late 1940s, according to the Halcrow-Thomas report, and the Historical Atlas of New Zealand. Presumably there were some provisional alignment surveys done to determine curves, cuts and fills, and realignment and over-bridge/underpass locations for East Coast Road, in order to get an indication of cost. I would like to know more about this – maybe there’s some documents in some archives somewhere, does anyone here know?

        2. “there was a tram line over much of this route before” – Sure, but it closed in 1927 and was only ever a steam tram.

        3. Yes. The point I was trying to make was that it would be easy for modern electric LRT vehicles to travel this route, because heavy steam trams could do it in the old days. I suppose a second point I was subconsciously making was how advanced Auckland was back then with regard to public transport choices and services, even though the population was about a tenth of what it is now (I know there weren’t many cars and trucks back then).

          Don’t worry, I’m on your side.

  5. This certainly looks like an improvement, had a very bumper to bumper slow but pleasant Easter Sunday afternoon south direction drive the other week along here & could see how it would clog with cars very easily. The transit lanes surely could go another section though?

  6. Fine work from AT. This is a very constrained corridor, and if they want to get more out of it they need to prioritise space-efficient modes of travel. If they keep this up the lower North Shore’s going to be a very good place for cycling – far better than the hilly isthmus!

      1. From the NZ herald 2014

        Collectively, councils will owe $19 billion by 2022 (the end of the current long-term-planning phase) and most will rely heavily on generations of ratepayers to pay it back. Leading the charge is Auckland Council, which alone will owe $13.1 billion – a trebling of debt in a decade. But wait, there’s more. Auckland has identified a $12 billion gap (on top of $56 billion already earmarked) in funding over the next 30 years for transport projects to ease congestion and allow for burgeoning population growth.

        Someday we will run out of the ability to pay of the debts we are generating, what will you do, rob the bank accounts of the savers to pay for today’s folly, we are living on the memories of the affluent years, they are in the past, look around you at the world we have created, sea level rise with many of our roads and all our ports not much above sea level, maintenance will be crippling.

        1. You might think over the next 30 years things will stay the same, my memory goes back to before the second world war and I’ve seen some big changes in much less than 30 years, which seems the time frame most planners quote, the climate we have today is a result of the atmosphere we inherited from 30 plus years ago and if we are to fix the mess we don’t need the same thinking that got us here, there again at my age why should I worry, you carry on and stuff up your future, only problem is I have a 15 year old granddaughter so I do worry.

    1. I agree with you. Make some roads metalled and have good quality cycle paths which exponentially cheaper to maintain. Watch the cycle mode share shoot up, air get cleaner and people get healthier. Win, win, win.

        1. Sealed roads have to have formed drains to carry the runoff, silt, pollutants etc into the storm drains, which discharge into rivers, estuaries and the sea. With unsealed roads a large proportion of what would otherwise be runoff soaks through the surface and undergoes much natural filtration before entering waterways.

        2. This is getting even funnier ha!

          You obviously don’t have a stream with unsealed road runoff running through your property. Never seen the clay that leaches OUT of the road when it rains. The colour of the drains each side of it. How ’bout them clouds of dust eh?

          Up to 30% increased fuel consumption they say.

          Just the ticket for saving the planet…

        3. Just because you can’t see the nasties in underground storm drains doesn’t mean that they aren’t there. They all end up in waterways – and the speed with which they do that compared with natural filtration helps create flooding hazards, too.

        4. Unsealed roads have formed drains too. You know that right? And when it rains they get full of water and whatever other nasties that any other road has on its surface plus all the silt and clay. There is sweet fuck-all filtration.

          And when it’s dry it fills the air with clouds of dust. Probably carrying the same nasties.

          But whatever…

        5. If you remove the car that solves the extra fuel use and you would have much safer and healthier cities, and as goosoid pointed out.well built cycleways have a long life with little maintenance costs,

  7. Re AT not publishing CMPs, surely they’re official information and therefore releaseable under LGOIMA? Given this one, others would make fascinating reading!

  8. It will be interesting to see what actually happens. The politicians in that area, both local and national, have been promising to widen Lake Rd forever. I’ll bet there will some personal calls made to the minister about this.

  9. Good to see the proposed cycleway link between the Seapath at Akoranga to the north end of Francis St. Could also be a possible route for a RT system in the future if the population density ever justifies it. With the expected population growth on the western side of peninsular would also be closer to more people.

    1. Yep, and what about a ped/cycle bridge at the south end of Francis St with some sort of path through the Navy housing to Creamer Ave (you’d have a direct cycle route straight to Belmont!)

      1. Good plan, Missing, Francis looks like a great active mode connector, get a couple of short boardwalks top and bottom and Belmont and Bayswater people can walk/ride direct to SeaPath and KyPath and Akoranga station, and up to Takapuna.

      2. Yes and there is already a corridor available. Just follow the Bayswater power supply route. Say if a small scale LR was viable with stops at Jutland, Eversleigh and Bayswater Ave.

  10. You’re incorrect in stating that the addition of cycle lanes resulted in no reduction of lanes. The adjustments to the intersection of Bardia/Lake resulted in the 2 holding lanes in each direction reduced to one. This is what causes a tail in either direction when traffic is heavy. Cars cannot move-off quickly enough when the light turns green – there’s always a queue.

    1. That’s simply not true Ben. You can go look at the aerial imagery on Google Earth. Back before the cycle lanes there was exactly the same number of holding lanes as there are today, two in each direction.

      The difference is today the centre pocket is marked right turn only, back before the 2000s it was marked right and through. I used to drive through here quite often to visit my grandparents on Bardia St, I actually stopped turning right there because drivers would get so angry and agressive they would honk, yell and overtake via the oncoming lane if you dared to stop to turn right. Perhaps thats why they marked a dedicated right turn, that has nothing to do with the cycle lanes however.

      1. Seriously? I have lived in Devonport and Hauraki for the last 26 years. When the cycle lanes went in, the council removed the two straight ahead lanes and replaced it with one, it converted the 2nd straight through lane with right turn spaces. Which are underused.

        The removal of the two straight through lanes have resulted in safer movements for cyclists, but has resulted in a queue that doesn’t disappear because there’s not enough time between phases for the traffic to get through before it changes.

        1. I don’t follow Ben, how is turning a right and through lane into a right only lane a cycling project? I’m sure the point was to make it safer for motorists given the regular frequency of crashes they used to have at the top of Bardia St. The last corridor upgrade had more goals than just painting in cycle lanes.

          Anyway, the introduction of cycle lanes neither required nor determined the change of the stacking lanes at the lights. Likewise you could change it back without removing the cycle lanes.

        2. This intersection looks like a great place to remove the lights and eliminate all right turns. People to head to Williamson Ave or Jutland Road for a controlled right turn. Would eliminate some of the rat runners also.

    2. I think it’s true that the length of the double lane section was reduced somewhat. But so what? It makes the tail longer, but it still moves. As I mentioned earlier, journey times are low, even when it’s bumper to bumper. It really isn’t a problem.

      1. Those sections in the bottom left just look ripe for redevelopment. So much wasted space. Through in some apartments next to the enhanced cycle lanes to really rile Jan O’Connor up.

      2. The evidence from the Princes Bridge in Melbourne showed exactly that. The queue of cars stuck in their own congestion became longer but there was minimal change to overall journey times. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/princes-bridge-bike-lane-adds-less-than-a-minute-to-commute-times-according-to-melbourne-city-council-20131003-2uwxh.html

        “Outraged motorists said the Princes Bridge bike lane would add an extra 10 minutes, or even 20 minutes, to their morning commute.

        But new data released by the Melbourne City Council on Thursday has revealed the real figure is less than 50 seconds.

        ….

        The council found it took motorists an average of 12.34 minutes to travel from Dorcas Street to Flinders Street after the number of lanes on the bridge was reduced from two to one.”

  11. On the Traffic Intervention slide what is that ‘Indicative Harbour Crossing Alignment’? Is that an error or has the alignment changed to a tunnel all the way to Akoranga? That’s one long (and expensive) tunnel.

  12. Convert Lake Road to Light Rail (LRT) from Devonport Wharf to Smales Farm busway station, via centre of Takapuna. Take a lane of traffic out to do it, so LRT has completely uncongested route – high speed, mass transit linking the nodes. Give people 2 choices – uncongested LRT, or sit in your car for 40 mins.

    Also 5-6 storey buildings lining the route, maximising the number of people along the route, and benefitting from this extremely strategic, and high amenity location.

  13. Its all fluff around the edges! If u want to get people out of cars u need to offer an alternative that is quicker. As said above buses r no quicker if they have to drive in the cluster fudge. Separate lanes & double frequency is all u need. As to authors repeated assertions that it was never double lanes. It may not on at as built plans. But informally there was a lot more double lanning going on that was easing jambs.

  14. Doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realise that Lake Road needs to be two lanes end to end, no narrowing, no ‘traffic calming BS’, no cosmetic tree plantings. Very interesting working in Sydney a week each month, massive distances can be covered in very short times as all arterial routes are two lanes each way. There is no obsession there with slowing or impeding flows, something some people here obsess about as though it is somehow beneficial to people attempting to get from A to B.

    1. You mean exactly the same methods we have been using for the last 60 years to “solve” congestion? How’s that working out for you so far? I may have heard a couple of people mention the congestion is bad and has been for some time.

      And of course, people in Sydney are always saying how that double laning has eliminated all congestion and Sydney is a breeze to get around:
      http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/western-sydney-businesses-losing-sales-due-to-constant-traffic-congestion-20160417-go86qb.html
      http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-faces-congested-roads-akin-to-mexico-city-without-user-pays-transurban-20160315-gnjfsg.html
      http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/sydney-traffic-worse-than-new-york-city/news-story/888b6c10fa4c38d6b3b89c0219cfb85a

      As the article above explains, there is only one way to really deal with congestion and that is road pricing. Your tired “solutions” will only encourage people to drive and increase the problems.

      The recent traffic survey found that the majority of people at weekday peak times were heading to the city. So the question should be what can be done to encourage those people to use the ferries or buses instead – not how we make it easier for them to drive.

      1. Thing is, the worst congestion in and out of Devonport occurs on Saturdays. During the week it isn’t great, but isn’t diabolical, mostly because of the ability to work with the tidal traffic flows.

        IMO, all that needs to be resolved is the intersection at Bardia Street. If something is done there, it should result in better throughput of traffic in a shorter time length. They could still keep it at one lane in each direction from Hauraki, or better still, bus lanes.

  15. I would be tempted to make the transit lanes bus only lanes. Also would it be worth considering widening lake road to allow bus lanes all the way to Bayswater avenue?. If at some future point demand justifies it the bus lanes could be re-configured and upgraded to light rail.

  16. Could we consider a solution to phase the flow of traffic with a three lane solution using a simple reversible centre lane?
    Absorb the median from Jutland road down to bayswater and use it as the flow requires.
    There are working examples of this in our own back yard (harbour bridge lanes for example) and overseas, its easy to set up and it works well.
    It may not be the silver bullet but is surely relatively cheap and easy to trial compared to rebuilding the road as described above.

    We do need investment in our PT system, it’s fallen woefully behind – and I’m happy to see more bike lanes, trees and foot paths.
    But none of that good stuff is going to fix the car traffic issue on Lake Rd. Hoping people can be convinced to get on PT or a bike is dreaming.
    Auckland has average weather, complicated hilly terrain and is very spread out – none of which is conducive to bikes or bus routes; meaning based on journey time alone in most situations people will actually need cars to get anywhere efficiently.

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