Here’s a roundup of some of the stories that have cropped up this week

CRL Walkthrough Tickets

On Wednesday City Rail Link gave away tickets for a walk though of the tunnels next weekend. However due to the strong demand and an appalling system that would reserve tickets but kept on crashing when you tried to enter your details to secure them, many people including myself were left frustrated by not being able to get any.

Unprecedented demand saw all 10,000 free tickets to give Aucklanders the chance to walk the City Rail Link tunnels snapped up within an hour.

“We’re so proud of a project that will bring massive benefits to Auckland and we’re as pleased as punch at the huge level of support people have for the work we’re doing,” says City Rail Link’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney.

“We knew that a lot of people wanted to get a sneak peek at the tunnels, but we are thrilled by the red-hot demand when tickets did become available. Thank you!”

The Walk the Tunnels open day will be held on Sunday, 17 November at the City Rail Link’s lower Queen Street site.

Tickets became available on-line at midday. Dr Sweeney acknowledged they went so quickly and many people did miss out.

“If we had an opportunity to welcome more people on site, we certainly would have done so,” he says.

“Numbers had to be restricted so that we could safely manage 10,000 people walking through a confined space underground. The walk will be made through a “live” construction site which means we do not have the flexibility to extend this open day – at the end of the day our priority is to get the City Rail Link finished and opened for Aucklanders.”

Dr Sweeney adds that the project will be exploring other public events.

“We are heartily encouraged by the fantastic support we’ve had today and there will be other opportunities in future for us to say, ‘thank you’ to Aucklanders for their support.”

Mangere Bridge safety improvements

Auckland Transport have announced safety improvements for Mangere Bridge.

It’s going to be safer to walk, bike, scoot and get around the Māngere Bridge area thanks to the safer communities programme. The improvements will be delivered by Auckland Transport and are the result of consultation with the community.

There will be 20 new raised pedestrian crossings, three new pedestrian refuge islands and nine existing crossings will be upgraded. A roundabout will also be built at the Miller/Mountain intersection.

Randhir Karma, Group Manager of Network Management says that AT consulted three times with the Māngere Bridge community to ensure pedestrian improvements were designed in partnership.

“This helped us come up with detailed designs incorporating the community feedback. We were able to understand from people, where and how they moved about their neighbourhood, and we’ve made sure the changes reflect that.”

Focus areas included the five schools in the area and the Māngere Bridge Village shops.

David Aldiss from the Mangere Bridge Residents Association says the community is keenly anticipating the improvements. “AT has given clear plans to the community on improving the safety of pedestrians, mobility scooters, and cyclists and to reduce traffic speed in the suburb.

“Many suggestions from residents and local organisations have been taken onboard by AT. We’re particularly pleased the convenient parking in the commercial area has been retained to keep the village atmosphere.”

Nearly half of the feedback (43%) was in support of the proposal and those people feel the changes will make Māngere Bridge safer for everyone to get around. Only 12% did not support the changes.

Work is expected to start in early 2020.

New Lynn to Avondale Shared Path

This project is finally getting underway with a sod-turning this morning.

The route follows the rail line and includes a new bridge over the Whau river along with a new underpass to be built over the Christmas/New Year shutdown this year.

Light Rail

Former Auckland Transport Chairman Lester Levy has spoken to Stuff and that weighed in on the light rail debate saying it would be underway now if it hadn’t been taken off AT. The article also includes some other comments, including what he would do if he had a magic wand

There is no magic wand of course, but if I had one it would be to accelerate the Rapid Transit Network, to shift people out of cars and ease the pressure on the roads. If you want to drive a car you should be able to, but you won’t be able to get very far very quickly unless we create an environment in which people who want to shift modes, do.

Radio NZs The Detail podcast has also covered the light rail discussion that’s occurred recently.

Housing consents

Housing consents continue to rise to new record levels with over 14.5k issued over the 12-months to the end of September

Auckland is continuing its record-breaking run for dwelling consents, achieving a new all-time record of 14,634 in the year to September.

“With this level of consents being issued, we are now meeting the demand for housing created by increased population and can start to catch up on Auckland’s housing supply shortfall,” said Mayor Phil Goff.

“Auckland consented 1143 new dwellings in September, with 14 per cent growth in annual dwellings consented through the first nine months of 2019,” said Mayor Phil Goff.

“We’ve consented a thousand more dwellings in the past five months than we did in the entire 12 months of the 2012/2013 year.

“Encouragingly, September’s figure doesn’t appear to have been driven by one particular part of the market, such as a large apartment building, suggesting that the strong result is not an anomaly—we’re seeing real progress across the board for Auckland housing.

“As of last month, the proportion of consents in brownfield areas is the highest it has been since the passing of the Auckland Unitary Plan—further evidence that it’s helping create a compact, quality city.”

Also at record levels are the number of dwellings in denser developments such as apartments, townhouses and retirement villages with those typologies making up 54% of all consents.

Four years for a fourth lane

Almost exactly four years after the project kicked off to widen the Southern Motorway (21-Oct-15), the fourth lane southbound on the Southern Motorway between the SH20 and Hill Rd interchanges has opened.

The entire project, which has included widening the motorway all the way to Papakura, is due to be finished by the end of the year. The NZTA is also due to finish the widening of SH16 between Lincoln Rd and Westgate by the end of the year too.

Early next year the NZTA are looking to start work on repeating the process by adding a third lane to the motorway between Papakura and Drury before longer term extending it to Bombay.

Cities designed by women

The BBC have published a short video on the discussion about designing cities for women.

Cities are supposed to be built for all of us, but they aren’t built by all of us.

Every city in the world has been designed and built by men. But what if the other half had a go?

Barcelona might be able to give us that answer.

For the past four years the city has had a female mayor with a profoundly feminist agenda.

We spoke to feminists working in urban planning in the city to find out what they think needs to change to make cities better for women.

We’re all for it and think our friends over at Women in Urbanism are doing a fantastic job advocating for these issues here. You can also read a post by them on the topic here.

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88 comments

  1. There absolutely needs to be a high level inquiry into why projects take so long to deliver in this country. Four years of work on the NW motorway is insane, especially given that it added no rapid transit.

    It’s even more important given the light rail debacle and the fact it will be massively overdue by the time it even start. We seem to just live with projects blowing out and there doesn’t seem to be any concern about why vital infrastructure is delivered months/years later than originally planned when first scoped out.

    Reply

    1. You go past either the Takanini work sites or Lincoln Rd to Westgate and observe just how few people were ever there at ANY given time.

      As far a project oversight and management went NZTA were about as ineffective as they were with the WOF/COF management. Quite why Twyford thought they could oversee light rail is beyond me, actually Twyford still having his current day job is beyond me. The pair are the perfect storm.

      It was like no more than 20 people were available pan Auckland wide for either. And working weekends and especially public holidays was simply not an option.

      Reply

        1. Are you suggesting forcing Fulton Hogan and other contractors to hire people who are currently on welfare even if they are not fit for the job? I’m not sure that’s going to speed anything up.

        2. Depends if you want it built properly I guess.

          I think the companies bidding for those contracts need skills here and now to wind the bids and are not social agencies. I mean you could put up the same argument to use chain gangs too, stripy suits, ball and chains, mounted prison officers with pump actions glaring menacingly. Unsure of the quality of output though.

          It is just piss poor oversight by NZTA that more and more shows what a thoroughly hopeless organisation it is.

        3. There’s always excuses for why those on welfare can’t work Jezza

          Not all aspects of these projects require highly skilled workers.

        4. This has nothing to do with whether they can do the work or not it’s whether they will do the work.

          Even low-skilled workers still need to actually do the job properly and if they are unmotivated, unwilling just not that good at what they do that just requires extra supervision and often going back to fix up mistakes.

          Sure if your main aim is to force unemployed to work then do it, but if your main aim is to speed up these projects then it is more likely to slow them down if anything.

        5. Comment of the day!

          Yeah, round up those single Mum’s or maybe those disabilities and get them on that Motorway…either that mandatory military service!

          Can picture the parade square now!! haha.

          Silly man, tell it Kiwiblog not a site that uses evidence and analysis.

        7. Measuring the amount of jobs is a red herring. You have to measure the amount of jobs where you actually earn enough to make a living.

        8. Miffy and Roland, combine your thoughts and refer to this:
          https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2017/jun/2.html. Conclusion: if any more people get employed than there are at present, there’s going to be wage inflation. I think that the ‘natural rate of unemployment’ was Friedman’s term for it, but it’s very much the same thing as the NAIRU (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) cited in the article linked above. Neoliberal policies arguably aim to keep unemployment above the NAIRU to prevent wage inflation. So it’s ‘natural’ that 5% of people are unemployed and policy looks to keep it that way. Which is lovely if you’re an employer.

        9. So many apologists for lazy people.

          115,000 people who are not even capable of using a broom or pushing a wheelbarrow. Amazing!

          No wonder we have to bring in so many foreign workers.

        10. Vance there are plenty of reasons some people will never have a job. They can be ill but have been harassed off a sickness benfit by WINZ staff trying to please their political masters, they can have a mental illness so they are not sick but can’t ever find a job, they can have children to raise so have to be there after school yet find childcare costs more than they could earn. they might live somewhere where there are no spare jobs. If you live in Whakatane then a low paid job in Auckland is of no use if you can’t afford to live there. They can be old, not old enough to get National superannuation but worn out after a life of labouring. The idea that there are jobs so the jobless must be lazy is the thinking of arseholes and right wingers. Which one are you?

        11. You have that around the wrong way, Vance.

          Unemployment keeps wages low and it provides a constant threat to employees, which curtails demand for better treatment. To prevent the lower unemployment rates forcing wages and conditions to rise, sectors found a willing government under National to allow seasonal workers from countries with dire labour conditions. Had this not happened, wages and conditions would’ve improved, bringing more people into the work environment.

          Note that NZ has not ratified C189, and we have people in slavery here. We also accept seasonal workers from places where slavery is common.

          People have a right to refuse to work for wages that are so low as to be disrespectful, because there’s no excuse for them to be so low other than greediness. NZ has increasing inequity, and an increasing gap between the high pollution load that the rich are imposing on the planet vs that of the poor.

        12. Vance – I’m not apologist for lazy people, although as mfwic and Heidi rightly point out unemployment is a lot more complex than just lazy people sitting around.

          I am however an apologist for the companies that would be forced to employ these people even if they are completely inappropriate for the job.

  2. The housing consents data is very heart-warming.

    I’d like to see, however, that split of houses / townhouses / apartments etc for the land area involved.

    Reply

    1. It’s heartwarming and it isn’t. Yes, supply is being ramped up but the fundamentals of how we came to be in the situation we are in remain virtually untouched.

      For the investors, it just gives them more houses on the Monopoly board to “Flip” which turns the Hearld on or collect, the current government too scared of its own shadow to really change anything. They were elected on delivering on housing issues but have failed to do bugger all and have been little different to National who made no such pretence of giving a shit.

      My other concern is this country’s building industry is still the Wild West of shonky quality and fly by nighters. The government know it but action is slow to non-existent. We are still knocking up leaking homes in abundance and when the developer and builders liquidate, which seems to be Kiwi building industry 101, it leaves homeowners deep in the do do when things ultimately turn pear-shaped.

      And lastly, state housing has morphed from free-standing houses on sections to terrace housing (bowling whole blocks of houses and intensely filling them with flats), to quickly fill a need with little thought to the problems this will create in the future. I am aware of the reality of putting so many struggling and at times dysfunctional families in tight groupings in overcrowded streets. The management of the current situation is is not a recipe for wellbeing and long term it is of concern.

      Reply

      1. One of the questions at the infamous Pt Chev meeting was about the level of funding to the Housing NZ tenancy support staff. It appears under the current government, there’s a much higher ratio of support staff to tenants. The figures seemed impressive, but sorry I didn’t write them down.

        Another point that was made – to the members of the audience who were concerned about ‘the effect on the community’ – was that the struggling and dysfunctional families are already in our communities, it’s just that when they’re in private tenancies they are, in general, far worse off than in HNZ where there is a system and support available.

        In Pt Chev, we’re seeing really nice HNZ developments. The ones that are completed are much prettier than what was there, with better street connections.

        I have a concern about one development though, of 32 apartments or so, where the only communal outdoor space is being used for a carpark. Surely in a location with excellent public transport, close to the NW cycleway (and ON the street with the proposed cycleway through the suburb), the parking spaces should’ve been reduced to just a few, including some spaces for shared vehicles. The space would’ve been far better used as communal living and gardening.

        Reply

        1. We spoke to the HNZ coordinator for our area- a large number of HNZ redevelopments are taking place in our street- we mentioned the large amount of car parking being allocated to the houses – and was told it shouldnt impact the street too much as most of our tenants use PT! We suggested a welcome package of a HOP card and timetables etc and at least we think that has been taken on board.

        2. Vinny, I wonder if there should be some research on what these spaces are used for, and who would do that?

        3. Problem is that workers on low pay who inhabit Housing New Zealand properties are more likely to be on shift work or working outside of PT hours. One reason why in some countries PT is still run through the night. Given the housing shortage, they may also have taken what they could get and may live some distance from where they work and/or be working multiple jobs with no time for multiple trips on PT.

      2. Don’t worry, Brisbane proves that sheer volume alone should be sufficient to give us the crying property speculators that we all want to see. Unfortunately building takes time so there is a delayed gratification factor.

        Reply

  3. It’s a pity those Barcelona women were too late to stop the construction of the nightmarish cathedral they are building to celebrate the invisible man in the sky.

    Reply

    1. If women had been able to stop the construction of cathedrals, miffy, the world would be a different place to the one we know. Have you enjoyed the gold leaf ceiling in the new chapel at the back of the Parnell Cathedral?

      The word ‘urbanism’ dates from 1885. Which is roundabout when Gaudi started building La Sagrada Familia, having taken over the design in 1883 – and the first part, the crypt, was finished in 1889.

      The word ‘feminism’ took its meaning ‘advocacy of women’s rights’ in 1895. So those Barcelona women 🙂 were just a little late.

      Reply

      1. Sometimes women are to blame for Cathedrals. The Holy Trinity was funded by a bequest from Miss Horton whose family money came from the New Zealand Herald. I read somewhere that her only condition was that it be finished in one style. So that they could ignore her condition the church got Parliament to pass a special Act to allow them to have the Battersea power station at one end and a glass wharenui at the other. My guess is that the invisible man isn’t bothered one way or the other. (not that I claim to speak for Him).

        Reply

        1. +1 to women building cathedrals. There’s an awful lot of shrines to Queen Isabella in Catholic Churches around Europe!

        1. But I’m not the one rubbishing one of the most cherished pieces of architecture in the world.

          It’s like hearing someone rubbish the music of Mozart or rubbishing an accepted scientific theory. Surely the first thing you enquire upon is their credentials?

        2. I suspect, given the nightmarish revelations of the last few decades about the treatment of boys, girls, women inside Catholic – and other – institutions, that ‘nightmarish’ was a description it was probably more sensitive to leave alone.

          If someone rubbished Mozart’s music as ‘rhythmically boring’ I wouldn’t question how musical they were. And I love Mozart’s music. It’s OK for people to use descriptive language to express their response to art.

          If someone rubbished an accepted scientific theory, the last thing I’d enquire upon would be their credentials. First I’d wish to understand their logic, their sources of information and whether they’re open to discussion.

        3. “I suspect, given the nightmarish revelations of the last few decades about the treatment of boys, girls, women inside Catholic…”
          I am only speaking from the viewpoint of architecture/aesthetics which I also expect “miffy” was and thus attach no significance to the function nor owner of the building let alone what that owner may or may not have done.

          “If someone rubbished Mozart’s music as ‘rhythmically boring’ I wouldn’t question how musical they were. And I love Mozart’s music. It’s OK for people to use descriptive language to express their response to art.”
          What if someone declared Mozart’s music “nightmarish” and derided people continuing to play it and be influenced by it?

          “If someone rubbished an accepted scientific theory, the last thing I’d enquire upon would be their credentials. First I’d wish to understand their logic, their sources of information and whether they’re open to discussion.”
          Well…. …no offence intended but that’s not very wise. Why not just pinpoint off the bat that people who rubbish accepted scientific evidence, laws, facts and theories such as:
          * People who believe that vaccines cause autism
          * People who refuse to accept evolution. Or Cosmology
          * People who refuse to accept global warming
          …have no leg to stand on and often even no clue what they’re guffing about to begin with?

      2. Why do you assume architects know anything about the beauty of buildings? Architects are responsible for some of the ugliest structures ever built. Take a look at the Auckland Central Police station or the medical school. Architects did both of those. Or look at all the brutalist buildings architects Warren & Mahoney did in Christchurch. The only real blessing of the quake was they got to knock most of them down.
        As for the Sagrada Familia it is “one of the most hideous buildings in the world” – George Orwell.

        Reply

        1. “Why do you assume architects know anything about the beauty of buildings?”
          Yah. Why would I assume a barrister knows anything about the law? Why would I assume my general practitioner knows anything about medicine? Why would I assume a plumber knows anything about plumbing?

          “Architects are responsible for some of the ugliest structures ever built.”
          Architects have to work within what their clientele demand. And like all professions: Not all architects are created equal and they all have their own personal styles.

          “Take a look at the Auckland Central Police station or the medical school…”
          New Zealand is awash with bad art in general and architecture is no exception. Part of it is because there Isn’t much competition here (nor exposure to good architecture & good architects) but much of it is also due to what the clientele want.

          “As for the Sagrada Familia it is “one of the most hideous buildings in the world” – George Orwell.”
          Was George Orwell any authority on good taste, in general, let alone architecture?
          It’s not like many people agree with him on that opinion.

        2. Brutalism Rules!
          Luckily for Christchurch one of the country’s finest buildings, W & M’s Christchurch Town Hall was saved after the quakes. In spite of that philistine Gerry Brownlee’s best efforts as Quake Minister to get it demolished.
          It’s a tragedy much of Christchurch’s impressive stock of post-war modernist housing has been lost.

        3. So Daniel Eyre do you not have opinions of your own unless some expert already holds that view?
          To rebut your arguments, lawyers are experts on the law and hold a body of knowledge about it. Physicians are experts on health and hold a body of knowledge about it. Architects are experts at squeezing more money out of their clients and then squeezing the biggest building from that budget. Most know sweet FA about the beauty of any building. They know how to try and get past decision makers by spouting jargon and that is about it.
          As for the Sagrada Familia- who the hell does that sort of shit? Extra tall towers are the domain of tyrants, evil fairies, wizards that went bad long before the current era, and property developers who put ego before profit. Look at it critically. Does it represent the best of humanity or the worst? “Not even in the European architecture of the period can one discover anything so vulgar or pretentious.” – Gerald Brenan.
          As for George Orwell he was certainly more able to see through other people’s bullshit than you seem capable of. If he has one lesson for us it is beware of the crap people who claim authority or expertise tell you. If you ever want to know about the in-fighting in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil war then read Homage to Catalonia.

        4. “So Daniel Eyre do you not have opinions of your own unless some expert already holds that view?”
          Erm no. I just laugh at people who hold strong opinions against what’s accepted with no credentials to back it up. It’s a pretty normal thing to do, I bet you do it yourself.

          “Architects are experts at squeezing more money out of their clients and then squeezing the biggest building from that budget.”
          Hahahaha yeah right you are (en sarc). This is where I disengage from this discourse (and don’t bother reading any further).

        6. …and to cap it all off; Gaudi, the architect of the cathedral in question, was killed by a light rail vehicle.
          …Devine

        8. “Extra tall towers are the domain of tyrants, evil fairies, wizards”
          So perfect for a catholic church then, that old testament gets pretty esotectic…

  4. Matt, somehow the ticket website doubled up on my issue of tickets so I have three spare. I was going to send them back for reissue but would rather give them to the GA team who missed out. I’ve messaged the GA facey page with my details.

    Reply

    1. I also got 3 spares which I did send back . My 1st ones came through 40mins after the site crashed and the 2nd came through at around 3.15pm .

      But the classic I saw on the CRL FB page was these clowns saying they were using up to 4/5 different devices to try and get the tickets . And reading their comments 1-2 days later they never got any ,ha ha teachs them for trying to be to greedy . And after reading alot of their comments days before they became available it seem to them it was going to be bthe in thing to do this season . And most of them wouldn’t know a tunnel if it enclosed them in it .

      Reply

        1. I managed to get 3 x 2 tickets. The spare four will be available this weekend at $100 each 🙂

        2. Kevin S there were 1/2 willing to buy them from those that got the extra tickets .

          But as I said a number just wanted to go through the tunnels as so to be ‘the in crowd’ , and most of tose were asking stupid questions about what they were able to do without reading all the terms and conditions 1st . Also I not being sexiest but most seem to be doppey young things that will try to walk through there in high heals and acting like airheads .

          My reason for going through is that I worked on Auckland 1st 9km tunnel in 1999/2000 and waqnted to see what this looks like and to ask a question about when they do Aotea station what the distancewill be between the Vector tunnel and the station proper as 1 will pass over the top of the other for around a 100metre distance .

  5. Finally starting to feel like the increase in Resource Consents is becoming a visible thing, especially out in the suburbs. It used to be that it appeared to be driven by big apartment blocks in the CBD and Greenfield sites like Hobsonville but just driving around all suburbs you can start to see its the time of the Townhouse. Any block of land appears to be giving way to 3 level Townhouses.

    Would be nice to see a post on Housing in the near future, we’ve had quite a bit of Light Rail so would nice to have another topic to argue over haha 🙂

    Reply

    1. Yes, I agree. I would’ve written one myself but have quite a bit of a backlog of very interesting transport information to analyse…

      Do take photos, Joe. The townhouse developments I’m seeing are all plastering the land with driveways, and presenting garages to the street. I’d love to see photos of other developments where there’s a high height to footprint ratio and more permeable land being kept for green spaces.

      Reply

    2. Yes a number of slightly denser building sites appearing, some just getting completed in our neighbourhood. A few replacement HNZ sites replacing old suburban homes, now generally with less bedrooms, particularly one humongous one. These will be interesting how they work out over time given the pretty much crap town planning around them.
      https://www.hnzc.co.nz/housing-developments-and-programmes/auckland-housing-programme/auckland-housing-programme-by-suburb/view/penrose-road
      There is a meeting coming up organised by our local MP about creating a Master Plan for Mt Wellington (Onehunga, Panmure etc have one but we don’t). NB Our newly upgraded park at the end of Commissariat Rd is getting really good use from existing & I think from some of these new families that are starting to move in.

      Reply

        1. That looks like the sort of public housing NZ’s government should’ve been building since the 30’s. Well, as long as it’s built properly and not mickey-mouse.

          Of course, some people might not like it as it might be better than a lot of privately-owned housing. 😉

      2. Sad amount of paving and design for the cars there. But at least the pohutukawa tree manages to bloom in the midst of it. :/

        Reply

        2. Looks like more old state housing across from it as well. Good luck getting this much HNZ in some other areas of Auckland. These are conversion of the old days so makes it easy I guess. Panmure Station & EP highway buses fairly close to here at least.

  6. The BBC video is excellent. The information about toilets should be put into our standards – women need three times as much public toilet space allocated to them than men do.

    But why is this city so bad at toilets? I’ve seriously had older people cancel outings because they’ve not been able to figure out where the toilets would be, if they need them. And they figure highly in that “parents’ map of the city” someone posted here once.

    Reply

  7. My takeaway on Light Rail and PT, in general, is we as a nation are still awaiting a government that sees the benefit of investment in alternatives to roads and private cars. National simply don’t see the problem, Labour pretends to, talk up huge to get votes but do nothing and the Greens seems to be distracted by wokeness.

    In respect of alteratives and climate change reduction, for example, the Devonport peninsula is a daily continuing nightmare of traffic problems, even on weekneds. Yet nowhere has anyone ever considered a continual boardwalk or shared path running its length from the Golf course to Takapuna. A lot of the western side is a wasteland of tidal mudflats that could easily accommodate a relatively grade free, stress free commute by foot or bike for its entirety. Its there in parts but incomplete. People could either commute to Bayswater to the ferries or south to Devonport ferries or north to the Akoranga bus station. But perversely road space was taken up by cycle lanes that benefit neither cyclists or motorists.

    The money is there surely from the fuel tax, so why not do it?

    Reply

  8. Pleased to see the news about the Avondale to New Lynn cycleway. It’s been such a long time in the making that I’d forgotten about it. Hopefully construction doesn’t take more than a few months and is finished by the end of summer.
    The CRL visit ticket system was terrible, constantly repeated attempts 12:00-1:10 and nothing but error messages

    Reply

  9. Why is so much still being spent on widening motorways, rather than improving public transport? Can’t the Drury widening be stopped before it’s due to star next year and the money put into more bus lanes, drivers, ferries, etc?

    Reply

  10. It is probably a bit rich to map the Te Whau Pathway as “other shared paths under construction or planned”. Launched with great fanfare in 2013, there was a short flurry of activity in 2015 when existing short paths were concreted and widened and then virtually nothing since. Oh, there might have been a “pontoon” at some point.

    But the “project” does have a very flash website. Just no real world action.

    Reply

    1. Te Whau Pathway is up for consent shortly – and taking submissions next week I believe. I guess the “flash website” is there to try and create interest it needs public support and of course funding. I think the volunteers have done an amazing job to even get to this stage.

      Reply

  11. Interesting pile of things happening. Great to see some cycling projects actually in construction once again. I missed out on CRL tickets too…..means more to look forward to when it finally opens? …also hoping for another similar event.

    Reply

  12. The Drury bit is necessary to replace the bridge that is hindering the electrification to Pukekohe.

    One assumes that those who are complaining about the motorway widening don’t live in this area and cannot understand the amount of traffic that this road carries, traffic that PT cannot replace.

    Reply

    1. Astonishingly, building hundreds of houses at Pokeno with zero public transport provision greatly increases traffic in the Drury area. Didn’t see that one coming.

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        1. My feeling is that Waikato should cede Mercer, Tuakau and Pokeno to Auckland BUT that should be the end of urban sprawl to the south.

        2. Agree Chris. IMO Tuakau at least should have been in the super city from the beginning given its traditional strong links to Pukekohe. Pokeno had certainly grown a lot. Cross boundary regulation probably requires central government intervention of a type that I don’t think has been done before.

        2. Not meaning to blow my own trumpet: But actually yes I am.

          Is there any reason why you seem to be singling me out for puerile harassment? I wasn’t the one so arrogant as to call one of the most iconic buildings in the world “nightmarish”, was I?

        3. I was wondering whether anything you post here is your expert opinion or whether it can, by your own argument, simply be dismissed as arrogant… You’ve certainly picked fights with experts/professionals on this blog before.
          As for architecture, like art it is a matter of fashion, taste & opinion. It is subjective (like many things).
          Engineering: very broad, can refer to all sorts of things all the way from civil to software. Not all are directly relevant to tunnel lining…

        4. “You’ve certainly picked fights with experts/professionals on this blog before.”
          I’ve called out people who’ve advocated things as absurd as (for example) replacing the port of Auckland with a new one on silty Manukau harbour or pretending that the already expensively maintained “nippon clip-ons” on Auckland Harbour Bridge can be used forever. I don’t care how much someone is revered as any “expert/professional” on this blog (or within the small pond of New Zealand); if anyone seriously advocates anything so silly I will call them out and laugh at them. And neither do I care how “arrogant” anyone might find me showing such common sense, as far as I’m concerned your condemnation of me is rather confused.

          “As for architecture, like art it is a matter of fashion, taste & opinion. It is subjective (like many things).”
          Erm… …not really. Things such as architectural features & ratios, colours & colour combinations, rhythms/harmonies/beats/lyrics in music, articulation techniques in writing/authoring and how they resonate with human thought patterns has been researched and established for some years now.
          But in any case, amongst architects; the works of Antoni Gaudi are revered as quintessential art-nouveau and some of the greatest ever. I doubt you’d find many architects with much reputation who don’t revere him. It’s like how no recognised musicians would rubbish Mozart.

          Oh but apparently that authority in architecture George Orwell (en sarc) didn’t like La Sagrada Familia. Not that much of it was even built when he ever cast his eyes upon it…

        5. As for architecture, like art it is a matter of fashion, taste & opinion. It is subjective (like many things).”

          Erm… …not really.

          I’m confused as to whether I’m allowed to like buildings or not now 🙁

        6. “I’m confused as to whether I’m allowed to like buildings or not now”
          I think you’re just confused…

        9. Daniel:

          You’re highly confused & don’t understand the implications of your own arguments:

          1. You claim if a non-expert expresses an opinion then they are highly arrogant.

          2. You, as a non-expert, insinuate poor quality workmanship on CRL tunnel (i.e. express an opinion).

          3. Therefore you are highly arrogant.

          QED

          Further: Disagreeing with experts is okay for you to do when suits you, but not for others? How extremely arrogant …

          Architecture: If, as you claim, good architecture is an objective matter, why is there no absolute agreement on it? Surely, were it so, it would be a matter of mathematical proof & we wouldn’t need architects anyway as it could all be done by engineers.

    2. That section that is showing in the photo is the section where the break through to Aotea Station will occur .

      And Daniel the water has come from 1 of 2 places [1 a hose being used for different reasons/purposes , or [2 a leakage from the top of Albert St where it hasn’t been sealed as of yet .

      Reply

      1. Thanks. It’s the answer I was hoping for; that the picture was taken after it was cleaned and there was still residual water. I’ll be reassured and take your word for it.

        Reply

  15. I read only about 2 parallel tunnels. Isn’t there a third emergency escape tunnel between the two train running tunnels?
    I don’t even see short cross tunnels between the running tunnels for possible emergency use. Looks like a disaster waiting to happen if a train stopped or broke down or derailed and was on fire.
    Or am I missing something?

    Reply

  17. I am extremely pissed I missed out on a walk the tunnel ticket, I was trying to get 1 just before 1pm but all times sold out.
    Considering I have been a big advocate for this project since the very beginning.
    I knew the major problem was allowing people to order up to 6 tickets, I gather many people won’t use all there tickets, and many will miss out, I have looked on trade me but no luck.

    Reply

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