Harbour Bridge traffic flows
One of the many reasons why I oppose an additional road crossing of the Waitemata Harbour (along with the insane price tag and the horrific environmental effects) is that I simply don’t think it’s necessary. Let’s take a look at monthly averaged daily traffic flows across the Harbour Bridge over the past few years – thanks to this excellent data from NZTA: The gaps in the data (it would be really nice having the earlier months in 2007 in particular) limit comparison to some extent, particularly as 2008 was an incredibly unusual year for traffic volumes (it’s when petrol prices skyrocketed through $2 a litre for the first time).…
14 Comments How to connect up North Shore rail?
While it’s most likely that we are at least 10-15 years away from seriously considering starting construction of any railway line to the North Shore, given that at its city end the line will need to link into the rest of the railway network in one way or another (either directly or by way of a transfer), there are a matters which need consideration in the relatively near future.…
Aligning our plans
There are a huge number of very important plans for Auckland’s future out for consultation at the moment, as I commented on in this previous post. However, one key thing will be to ensure they align with each other – as it’s pretty silly for one plan to be promoting something that would completely undermine what another plan is trying to achieve.…
Looking closer at the Harbour Crossing proposal
The most expensive transport project outlined in the Auckland Plan (and that’s quite an achievement in a transport chapter full of incredibly expensive transport projects) is not a rail project, but rather another motorway: the $3.9-$5.3 billion additional harbour crossing project.…
Harbour Crossing Alternative: further thoughts
The feedback on yesterday’s blog post about my suggested alternative to another motorway harbour crossing has been quite interesting – and perhaps a little more mixed that I had anticipated. For a start, it’s probably worth clarifying that I don’t think a railway line between downtown and Takapuna is a particularly high priority for Auckland: I would put it behind the City Rail Link, rail to southwest Auckland (including the Airport), busways along State Highway 16 and in the southeast, as well as a huge overhaul of our existing bus network.…
My alternative to another road-based harbour crossing
Today’s opening of the Hobsonville Deviation motorway has somehow led to further discussion of another road-based harbour crossing of the Waitemata. This from the NZ Herald:
The pieces of Auckland’s motorway puzzle are falling into place – and the biggest piece, a second harbour crossing, is looming large in the minds of planners…
…And the mother of all roading projects, a replacement for the Auckland Harbour Bridge, is edging closer, according to New Zealand Transport Authority Auckland state highways manager Tommy Parker.…
Future Proofing the City Rail Link
Now that Auckland Council & Auckland Transport have made the decision to push ahead with protecting the route for the City Rail Link, a process that will probably take a year or two as the designation and all the necessary consents are acquired, it’s a good time to start thinking about some of the design details for the project and also some important ways in which we can be clever about its design while ensuring that it is well future-proofed for whatever further rail projects Auckland might need over the lifespan of the CRL, which will be around for a very very long time.…
AA Survey on Auckland Transport Issues
Other than the City Rail link, there was another interesting presentation at the transport committee on Tuesday, the results of a survey conducted by the AA. The survey was conducted in the middle of may and sent out to a selection of their Auckland members, they had 6030 responses and the results have a margin of error of +1.3%.…
How to “unleash” Auckland’s transport system?
A few weeks back there was a very high profile launch of the Auckland Spatial Plan discussion document, known as “Auckland Unleashed”. The launch was accompanied by a great video of Mayor Len Brown outlining his vision for rail’s role in shaping his vision for Auckland over the next 20-30 years.…
North Shore rail link very popular
An interesting article in yesterday’s Herald, outlining the results of a poll into transport in Auckland:
An UMR Research poll, the results of which are out today, found 79 per cent of 241 Aucklanders in favour of installing railway lines across the harbour – whether on a new bridge or through tunnels – and 18 per cent against.…
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