First section of Te Ha Noa Opens

Something definitely worth celebrating is the opening of the first section of Te Hā Noa, the Victoria St Linear Park. As we highlighted eight years ago, this project is vital for helping move the thousands of people that will pour out of the Te Waihorotiu station once the CRL opens. However, the project very nearly didn’t happen.

The first section of a redesigned Victoria Street – from Elliott Street to Queen Street – has opened to the public. It’s lighter and leafier. It feels more sociable. It functions with contemporary purpose, signposting more of what’s to come.

The milestone is another step closer to a completed station neighbourhood. Auckland Council’s midtown regeneration programme is ensuring the area will be ready for the City Rail Link (CRL) and Te Waihorotiu Station becoming operational in 2026.

The new rail network will bring thousands more people into these streets and spaces, using more transport modes than were previously available. People will arrive by rail, bus, active modes (walking or on scooters and bikes) and by car or delivery vehicle.

This shift in functionality and lift in anticipated numbers underpin the need for the repurposing and redesign of streets and spaces, improving the workings of a contemporary city.

Fresh form and function

On both sides of the street, heritage kerb stones sit next to new paving. The flowing water patterning etched into basalt pavers on the southside of the street is by artists Chris Bailey and Sally Smith – hinting at a magnificent artwork coming to the Queen Street corner in mid-2025.

By that time, the Lorne Street to Albert Park section of Victoria Street will be open and CRL’s streetscape surrounding the station portal in Victoria Street will also be finished.

The mid-section of Victoria Street from Queen Street to Lorne Street will open in 2026, once Watercare’s Midtown Wastewater Upgrades are delivered. Read more about this work here and Auckland Council’s recent update here.

I get that it’s only a short section but it seems the cycleway is being blocked until more sections are finished. What’s the harm in letting people use it now?

The council are also talking up how the changes will enhance Christmas and summer in the city.

Uplighting the trees

When people come to enjoy Christmas lights in city centre squares and Queen Street this festive season, they will also see the uplighting of trees, widened footpaths, and spaces with new seating for visitors to sit and pause in this finished section of Victoria Street.

Visitors might also witness the first flowering of pōhutukawa which were among the native trees crane-lifted into the street in September. Pūriri, taraire and tītoki are the other varieties planted, with 900 plants further greening new gardens at street level. Read more here.

Policy and Planning Committee Chair Councillor Richard Hills says people have already been commenting on the new mature trees and gardens in the street, with places to sit and enjoy the city centre.

“The opening of the first section of Te Hā Noa has allowed people to start experiencing the refreshed atmosphere and functionality of the redesigned Victoria Street, which is truly exciting.
“I’m looking forward to our new streets and spaces, an underground rail network, better bus routes, billions of dollars of private sector investment in the area, and a thriving arts quarter, bordered by three beautiful city parks – Myers, Albert and Victoria.

“Summer is going to be a wonderful time for people to experience these upgrades, including widened footpaths to stroll on and take in the new trees, which provide shade in the day and light up at night,” Councillor Hills says.

What has been delivered so far looks great and will only get better as more sections are completed.

However, it’s also worth remembering that we came very close to not having this. There’s a more complete summary of it here but despite this having been on the council’s City Centre Masterplan, part of AT’s strategic plans and the council having just reaffirmed it’s support for the project, Auckland Transport tried hard to prevent it following a secret deal done with the University of Auckland.

We thought our minds had finally been put to rest back in late March when the council reaffirmed their support for the City Centre Master Plan, including specifically calling out the Victoria St Linear Park. We thought this would be enough of a message to make AT think twice about scaling back the Linear Park. However, just days later, AT announced consultation for a plan which had a preferred option that not only killed the Linear Park but would also make it harder to use buses. What’s more, it appeared that part of the reason for this was a closed door deal done between AT and the University who don’t want buses past their premises, or even on the same side of the city as they are.

We later learnt that ATs own business case for the project didn’t support their preferred option. It showed, thanks to some poor redacting, that the preferred option was so bad for buses it had a negative benefit cost ratio while cheaper and more logical options performed well.

We, Generation Zero, Bike Auckland, Spinoff, and others encouraged people to submit to help save the Linear Park.

Late last week we finally learnt the outcome of the consultation with AT stating that they received more than 2,200 submissions, an impressive effort. Most importantly, as a result of the submissions, which they say showed “overwhelming public support for a more green and cycle/pedestrian-friendly city centre“, AT have abandoned their plans for buses on Victoria St and therefore the Linear Park is still alive.

We’re certainly not the only ones who helped save this but we’re proud of our efforts to keep this project alive and it’s fantastic to see it start to come to become a reality.

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