Auckland Transport will proceed with a westbound T3 transit lane on Onewa Rd between Church St and 135 metres east of Birkenhead Avenue. Construction of the T3 lane will begin in February 2015 and finish in April 2015.
Public consultation on this project occurred in 2012. Feedback received during the consultation and a safety audit resulted in the following proposal: Widen the road between Lake Road and Church Street to extend the section of dual general traffic lanes so they merge just before Church Street. The T3 transit lane is an additional lane operating between 4pm-6pm, Monday-Friday and which means parking is not permitted on this stretch of road at these times.
Project status: Implementation
Project zone: North
Project updates
8 December 2014
Construction will begin in February 2015. Find out more about the design and impact of the T3 lane.
Project purpose
AT wants to future-proof the local transport infrastructure. This is to meet the demand of predicted growth in the southern-western suburbs of the North Shore. This includes improving major arterial roads such as Onewa Road which will help ease the predicted pressure the road network will face.
Transit lanes were introduced in Auckland following the example of many cities around the world. AT is investing in bus and transit lanes as part of a region-wide effort to improve public transport system.
Transit lanes are managed lanes that increase corridor efficiency by offering predictable travel time for carpool vehicles, buses, motorbikes and cyclists.
The public transport network is essential to Auckland. As a modern and growing city, we need better connected and more frequent passenger transport services.
Currently, approximately 200,000 trips are undertaken on the Auckland’s passenger transport networks each day. By 2050, because of population growth, this is forecast to increase to 600,000 trips each day.
The objective of the Onewa Road westbound T3 transit lane project is to improve effectiveness of the road by increasing its people carrying capacity instead of its vehicle carrying capacity.
Project details
Background to the Onewa Road transit lane
-The aim of the Onewa Road westbound T3 transit lane project is to improve effectiveness of the road. This will be achieved by focusing on the people-carrying capacity of the road over its vehicle-carrying capacity.
-An eastbound T3 transit lane currently operates on Onewa Road between the hours of 6.30am and 9am. Buses and high-occupancy vehicles can avoid most of the queuing that forms along Onewa Road in the morning peak.
-It's common practice to have a similar lane configuration in the opposite direction during the evening peak period to accommodate the similar tidal travel demand.
-The legacy North Shore City Council investigated improving Onewa Road in the westbound direction during the evening peak and proposed implementing a T3 transit lane.
-AT assessed the proposal against the AT bus priority policy and traffic survey carried out in March 2012. Survey results showed 48% of passengers travelled in 7% of transit vehicles (buses and vehicles with three or more people).
-AT invited public comment on the proposal in September 2012.
Design and impact
AT will install the transit lane and shared path on Onewa Road, as shown in the detailed maps below.
The design intends to improve transport efficiency of Onewa Road in western direction during the evening peak period.
Implementing the transit lane will result in loss of on-street parking on the southern side of Onewa Road between 4pm and 6pm, Monday to Friday.
The impact on businesses affected by no parking during T3 transit lane operating hours will be mitigated by providing P15 parking on Wernham Place and Seaview Ave 4pm-6pm, Monday-Friday. On-street parking outside the T3 operating hours will not be affected.
Exiting bus stops along the proposed transit route won't be relocated as part of the project.
The existing westbound carriageway is 6.5m wide, providing space for on-street parking and a single traffic lane. The existing single lane configuration when transformed to two lanes will result in greater ease of travel.
The added lane will prioritise higher occupancy vehicles along the proposed route. This will make effective use of the road space and the public transport system will become more efficient as well as reliable. The proposed scheme will also reduce travel time to vehicles using the general traffic lane.
Proposed upgrade works
-Westbound T3 transit lane on Onewa Road between Church Street and Birkenhead Avenue in the evening commuter peak period between 4pm and 6pm, Monday to Friday.
-Westbound two-way pedestrian/cycle shared path on Onewa Road between Church Street and Birkenhead Avenue.
R-oad widening along the frontage of properties 206 to 214 Onewa Road to cater for a four-lane roadway including the existing and proposed transit lanes. The proposed road widening will include an associated pedestrian/cycle shared path, vehicle crossings and drainage improvements.
-Removal of the existing recessed bus bay outside 178 Onewa Road for wider footpath area and replacement with an in-lane bus stop.
-Removal of the existing road markings and signage and installation of new markings and signage, as per the current Auckland Transport bus and transit lane policy.
Providing for cyclists and pedestrians
Onewa Road is part of the Strategic Citywide Cycle Network and links in with the proposed Bus Rapid Transit links and Harbour Crossing. The proposed westbound transit lane width does not offer adequate space for cyclists.
Therefore, it's proposed to upgrade the existing footpath to a shared pedestrian/cycle path. The shared path will allow cyclists and pedestrians to travel in both directions.
To provide a safe space for cyclists, the existing footpath on southern side of Onewa Road will be transformed into a shared cycle/pedestrian path. This will require footpath widening and pram crossing upgrades at certain locations.
https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/onewa-road-transit-lane-west/