Wow, it’s August/ Here-turi-kōkā already! Given it’s also a Friday, here’s our weekly scoop of stories that caught our eye this week, just in time for your morning tea break.
This Week in Greater Auckland
- On Monday we had another great guest post from Brendon Harre on Christchurch’s transport history…
- … and on Wednesday, Brendon completed his series by looking at the future of transport in Christchurch.
- For Thursday, Heidi asked how we can fill Council’s climate leadership vacuum, and fast!
This post, like all our work, is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join our circle of supporters here, or support us on Substack!
Today’s header image is via KiwiRail and shows a new mural by Joel Nicholls near Parnell Station; see related story below.
Consistency when it comes to safety, please
Much of the country had a an unexpected wake-up call yesterday, with the tsunami emergency alert that went out at 6:30am. One thing that stood out to us in the aftermath was this response from Minister for Emergency Management Mark Mitchell, defending lives at all cost:
But Mitchell wasn’t particularly sympathetic.
“We don’t have the luxury of playing Russian roulette with people’s lives,” he said.
“I can tell you right now that if we hadn’t done that, and there’d been half a dozen people swept off the beach this morning when they were walking their dogs at 6.30am, and they’d been drowned, then I would be sat standing here being asked why we didn’t use our national alert system,” he said.
Mitchell went on: “I’m sorry that we’re having to wake up the entire country, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience of that, but if it means making sure that people are kept safe, and if it means that we save lives … I make no apology for the fact that we’re taking our responsibility seriously.”
Maybe he should have a word to his colleagues, especially Chris Bishop and Simeon Brown. Every year, hundreds of people die on our roads unnecessarily. Because this doesn’t happen in one mass event, these preventable tragedies don’t get anywhere near the coverage they deserve. But that doesn’t mean the government shouldn’t try and improve things.
“Making sure people are kept safe” is the exact reason many speed limits around the country were reduced, and and those changes were demonstrably saving lives… until this government undid many of those changes, re-imposing blanket speed limits.
It’s highly likely we’ll see road deaths increase – as we reported in last week’s Roundup post, at least four people have died on roads where the government recently raised speed limits back to unsafe levels. Moreover, indicative numbers for July suggest there were twice as many road deaths this July, compared to July last year.
Better night buses on the way
Auckland Transport is planning to improve bus frequencies on some important corridors, from the middle of August – including more frequent services into the late evening.
Central
Evening services will run every 30 minutes until 11:30pm, 7 days a week for: 22R, 22N, 24B, 24R, 25B, 25L
This means that there will be a bus every 15 minutes on New North Road, Sandringham Road, and Dominion Road.
The 27H bus will run every 30 minutes after 10pm. The 27W bus will run every 20 minutes until 9pm, and then every 30 minutes, 7 days a week. This means that there will be a bus every 15 minutes on Mount Eden Road.
The 30 (Manukau Road) and 75 (Remuera Road) buses will run every 15 minutes until last service, 7 days a week.
The 106 (Freemans Bay loop) bus will run every 30 minutes all day, 7 days a week.
North
The 95C bus will run every 30 minutes until late, 7 days a week. This bus runs from Glenfield Road to Constellation Station.
Evening services for the 97B and 97R will each run every 30 minutes until midnight. This means buses will run every 15 minutes between Beach Haven and the city centre all evening.
The 901 bus will run 7 days a week until 10:30pm. It will run at least every 20 minutes during peak times and every 30 minutes at other times. This bus runs from Constellation Station to Smales Farm via Wairau Road.
The 923 (Hillcrest) bus will run every 20 minutes until 7pm from Akoranga Station, 7 days a week.
South
The 353 (East Tamaki) and 355 (Mission Heights) buses will run every 30 minutes until 11pm, 7 days a week.
Changes to Onewa Rd
Auckland Transport is also implementing some changes to Onewa Rd in an effort to reduce congestion, with the biggest changed being the removal of all on-street parking, at all times.
The most significant change on Onewa Road will be the addition of broken yellow lines on both sides from Birkenhead Avenue to Lake Road, which will make it a 24/7 clearway.
This will mean no vehicles will be able to stop or park on this busy stretch of the road at any time, ensuring a consistent flow of traffic at all times of the day and night.
Other changes include:
- “Keep Clear” markings installed across the Birkenhead Avenue/Hammond Place intersection and the middle lane from Birkenhead Avenue will be designated for through and right-hand turn traffic only.
- New pedestrian crossing technology has been installed on crossings adjacent to St Mary’s Church and Northcote College and the bus stop near the church will be upgraded to provide all weather cover.
- AT will work with St Mary’s Church to find parking solutions on side streets for parishioners.
- Installation of new parking information signs on Seaview Avenue.
- The replacement of a clearway on Nutsey Avenue, near Northcote Primary School, with broken yellow lines to stop parked cars from bottlenecking and impeding traffic flow on the street.
With the removal of on-street parking, the logical thing is to also make the T3 transit lanes permanently 24/7.
Meanwhile in Christchurch, a push to delete the T2 lanes from their new bit of motorway north of the city is being led by Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey. NZTA says the lanes are providing benefits to commuters and freight.
NZTA acting director of regional relationships Ian Duncan said the T2 lanes were included as part of an agreement with the Christchurch City and Waimakariri District Councils and Environment Canterbury. ‘‘The T2 lanes were designed to ease congestion by encouraging carpooling and public transport use.
‘‘Greater Christchurch felt that adding a third southbound lane on the bridge for general traffic would allow too much traffic on to the already congested local Christchurch roading network.
Beautifying the rail corridor
A fun story from KiwiRail via LinkedIn (and see related video clip on their Facebook page). Hopefully we see more art like this around the corridor.
Meet Joel Nicholls, born and raised in East Auckland and a full-time artist with more than 10 years of experience, including five painting large-scale murals. As part of our trial beautification project in Auckland, aimed at reducing graffiti in the rail corridor, Joel recently completed a stunning 250m² mural near Parnell Station.
The design, titled “Popn Birdz”, features 28 native New Zealand birds, each depicted in a vibrant pop art style. The background follows the same theme, using bright colours to depict what is seen in nature.
Can you name all the birds in this mural? Joel’s favourite might be the ruru, but it’s a tough choice. Here’s the lineup from left to right: tauhou, whio, kōtare, korimako, riroriro, miromiro, huia, hoiho, ruru, tūī, kākāriki, kea, tīeke, kōtare, pīwakawaka, hihi, mohua, pōpokotea, kererū, kōkako, takahē, kiwi, kākāpō, pīpīwharauroa, tītitipounamu, pīwauwau, toutouwai, warou.
Joel began this mural in the depths of winter, working on a retaining wall which wasn’t designed to be painted. With the wall facing east and only warming up in the afternoon, he made the most of every sunny hour to bring this artwork to life over several weeks.
He says “the highlight was overcoming all the adversities to create a clean and bright piece of original and unique New Zealand art”. You can view Joel’s mural by travelling between Newmarket and Parnell on the Southern Line or Eastern Line, or from the Wilsons Car Park on Nichols Lane.
⚠️ Please remember, Joel was invited to paint in the rail corridor by KiwiRail, and measures were in place to keep him safe. Entering the rail corridor without permission and protection is both extremely unsafe and illegal.
Images via KiwiRail
Hyperbole on housing
Councillor Christine Fletcher and Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton have penned a hyperbole-laden op-ed about housing in Auckland, for the Herald:
Bishop’s high growth targets for Auckland are extortionately inflated.
They position our unique isthmus to be obliterated, our maunga surrounded by towers and cookie-cutter urban landscapes.
Worryingly, many high-profile Auckland councillors seem to acquiesce to Bishop’s steamroller “fix” from Lower Hutt.
Their alternative “fix” seems to be to just… wait for a generation to die? Is that what “fall out of the housing market” means?
More folks will likely fall out of the housing market than enter it in a few decades, freeing up property more than projected.
Once again, the precious volcanic viewshafts enter the picture (prompting reminders of Scott’s classic post on the subject, “What if Instagram girlies planned Auckland”), and the word “destroy” bursts onto the scene:
Bishop will be the political bully historians recall for destroying Auckland’s character residential areas, heritage, and ending the coast-to-volcanic viewshaft amenity our city has prided itself on in a vain, misdirected mission far-removed from addressing the problem statement.
If it’s “destruction” to build space-efficient homes in places that are handy to work, shops and school, then what’s the word for endless sprawl across irreplaceable farmland, creating infrastructure-costly intensification that traps people in long commutes?
The last line of the op-ed says it all, really: they seem to want Auckland (or at least their parts of Auckland) locked into a permanently suburban, car-dependent state, in the name of “diversity”. This is at odds with the evidence, which shows that more people living closer together tends to increase both cultural and economic diversity.
Aucklanders should be very concerned about the excessive housing capacity Bishop is mandating. Our suburban and cultural diversity is on the brink of an oppressive, politically-imposed collapse.
The Minister responded that such hyperbole is not helpful.
“The simple reality is that housing in Auckland is some of the most expensive in the developed world and is holding the city back. The answer is to build more houses – and that’s what our planning reforms will enable.
“It’s actually that simple. I hope one day she can see that,” [Minister Chris] Bishop said.
Toi by Ockham on Carrington Road, within cooee of trains, buses, and our busiest bike route. Image by Malcolm McCracken via Bluesky.
And in breaking news this morning as shared by Councillor Richard Hills on the socials, “the stunning building at 538 Karangahape Rd proposed by James Kirkpatrick Group has been approved through mediation and signed off by council.”
The 11-storey mass timber building (New Zealand’s largest example) will have ground-level retail, plus office space for over 800 people, and is super handy to the new CRL station as well as frequent buses and major cycleways.
It was previously knocked back by council planners for not being quite heritage-y enough for its location (over the road from a petrol station, a car yard, and adjacent to an empty lot, with an Edwardian pub not far away).
It was also criticised for its “dominating” nature. As Hayden Donnell noted at the time,
So true. Why would you want new retail or restaurants dominating the streetfront when you could enjoy the urban feng shui of some gravel with a fence in front of it instead?
We understand conditions of consent may include some minor changes to the facade, but anyway, roll on the new building!
Image: a relatively recent render of the James Kirkpatrick mass-timber development for 538 Karangahape Road, via Cr. Hills’ social media
One for the tram fans
An upcoming event at MOTAT on Thursday 21 August, “Always a Tram in Sight”, is one of a series of public lectures by MOTAT’s Tramway Project Manager and leading tram expert, James Duncan, on our proud history of public transport. Tickets and more details here.
Doors open at 6.30pm with the talk commencing at 7.00pm in our new science and technology centre, Te Puawānanga.
Light refreshments will be provided and a cash bar will be available on the night. The stunning Trolleybus no.50 will also be on display.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to learn about the history and legacy of trams – it will be tramtastic!
Venue: MOTAT Great North Road, Te Puawānanga Science and Technology Centre.
Entry via Gate C on Stadium Road, Thursday 21 August. Doors open at 6:30pm.
Image: a tram-filled Queen St, 1940s. Auckland Libraries, via DigitalNZ
Bike lanes are a constitutional right
An interesting judgement from Canada, rejecting Premier Doug Ford’s push to rip out 19km of Toronto’s downtown bike lanes, a move that would be both dangerous and costly ($48m, according to the city’s estimate). If it ever came to it here, would our courts back the bike lanes?
An Ontario court has deemed the province’s plan to remove three major Toronto bike lanes unconstitutional.
The judge ruled Wednesday that Cycle Toronto and others “have established that removal of the target bike lanes will put people at increased risk of harm and death, which engages the right to life and security of the person.”
In December, lawyers for the Toronto cycling advocacy group and other cyclists asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to strike down parts of a law empowering the province to remove the 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes on Yonge Street, Bloor Street and University Avenue, and replace them with vehicle lanes.
The province has been pushing for the removals as a solution to Toronto’s traffic congestion, but cyclists and advocates say bike lanes are crucial for public safety and that removing them won’t solve traffic concerns.
“The evidence shows that restoring lanes for cars will not result in less congestion, as it will induce more people to use cars and therefore any reduction in driving time will be short-lived, if at all, and will lead to more congestion,” said Schabas in his decision.
Five years on fast-forward
Lastly, here’s a fresh video from CRL, showing the construction of the Karanga-a-hape station at Mercury Lane, in time-lapse. That’s a lot of digging! Also, we reckon every major project deserves this commitment to visually communicating both the scale of the work and the value of the investment. A before-during-and-after of Meola Road, for example, would be rad.
That’s us for the week – as always, share your links and stories in the comments. Have a great weekend.
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Climate Change Action Network have created a guide to voting in the local elections from https://www.ccan.org.nz/education
Don’t forget to be enrolled to vote in local elections by 5pm today https://voteauckland.co.nz/en/who-can-vote-how-to-enrol.html
Should read Community Climate Action Network….
Personally, I am a huge fan of “graffiti”, in it’s own way, it is ART! With my kids we enjoy making rhymes using words written on buildings, sometimes correcting spelling, but most often building fun songs from the tags.
If our city is serious about reducing this asset to literacy, then the graffiti artists themselves should be employed to create the “art” the Kiwirail deems acceptable.
As the father of two boys, I want them to be literate, in the art world, in the music world, and in the library world.
Graffiti often provides the only calligraphic distraction on our longer train rides, some of these artists create beautiful words with spray cans, something that most of us would struggle to do.
Are we jealous that these citizens are so clever?
By all means employ the visual artists as Kiwirail has done, but also recognise that our city art is not exclusive to its galleries, or its funding. Sometimes true beauty and social commentary can be better seen in the unsanctioned works of art that make our city more fun!
bah humbug
And if only we were building an eleven storey timber apartment block. Like our city needs another office building for terrible parents to hide from their children
Mark that down as another good reason to never have a constitution.
Because constitutions protecting citizens’ rights to safety give miffy a squiffy sti…?
It’s the idea that some idiot judge knows better than the people elected to represent people. It’s the idea that some twit now knows better what rights people need in 100 years. It’s the ridiculous idea that a constitution protects anything when tyrants show up.
Is it this that challenges your worldview, miffy?
“The evidence shows that restoring lanes for cars will not result in less congestion, as it will induce more people to use cars and therefore any reduction in driving time will be short-lived, if at all, and will lead to more congestion,”
Three cheers for later 95C and Doug Ford brainfarts being pushed back now we need that to happen to some of our brainfarts
Three cheers for Ockham’s Toi and 538 K Road. Maybe other Great North Road apartments may be kicked off by the GNR upgrade.
Drawing a line between ‘graffiti’ and ‘street art’ is difficult, but the biggest issue for supervised art is the safety aspect, for the rail corridor. Kiwirail have enabled some good stuff, so congratulations.
Art and literasy – litteracy – literassy, er, writing can be encouraged in a semi-formal way in safe locations. Should be encouraged where possible.
Great about the better bus frequencies. What funding allowed this change?
Yes good call on Mark Mitchell. “I make no apology for the fact that we’re [shirking] our responsibility seriously” is more like it. Killers.
One Term Government.