Fury over bus lanes brings backdown
Thursday Jul 21, 2011



Auckland Transport has felt the public fury and hit the brakes on its bus-lane rules.

Only months after calling its enforcement of bus lanes "business as usual", the Auckland Council subsidiary says it will now exercise greater leniency and improve lane and road signs.

The backdown follows a Herald campaign over flaws in bus-lane policing and growing unease at the number of drivers breaching a ban on general traffic on Grafton Bridge between 7am and 7pm on weekdays - and being fined $150.

In the year to May, 14,253 bus-lane infringement notices worth about $2.1 million were issued to drivers using the 101-year-old bridge at the wrong time.

There are plans to improve the signs on Grafton Bridge by September - possibly changing to electronic signs and using larger ones - and to work with suppliers of GPS navigational devices to ensure these notify drivers of the weekday ban.

First-time offenders on all bus lanes will get off with a warning, as will other motorists who wrongly use a new bus lane during the first two months it's in operation.

Trials will take place at four sites of new signs and a broken green line to indicate that motorists can enter a bus lane within 50m of an intersection.

Auckland Transport is also urging lawmakers to reduce the cost of the bus-lane fine, although motorists were promised action on this by the former Auckland City Council 10 months ago.

It will argue that the $150 fine is out of line with the same $150 penalty for running a red light, an offence which could cause a crash.

Councillor Mike Lee, who chairs the council's transport committee and is an Auckland Transport board member, said the changes were an acknowledgment of the public's resentment at heavy-handed enforcement.

"What they are signalling is that this is about tackling congestion, and better public transport," he said.

"It is not about getting money out of the public."

A bus-lane review discussed by the transport board yesterday said that because Auckland's population was forecast to reach two million by 2035 and road-widening opportunities were largely limited, bus lanes were beneficial and necessary.

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Anski
Always on the move - Australia, UK, South Africa, Sri Lanka, France, Spain,Cyprus, & others

West Auckland and North Shore will be more closely linked when 9km of new motorways open around Hobsonville and Westgate at the end of next week.

The Transport Agency hopes the weather will allow it to open the two new sections of State Highways 16 and 18 on Sunday August 9.

Prime Minister John Key will lead a ceremony on the Saturday to mark the completion six months early of the $220 million project, plugging one of the last remaining gaps in Auckland's 48km western ring route.

The project's main feature is a sweeping motorway-to-motorway interchange at Westgate, where a 10-metre cut has been made under a new bridge for Hobsonville Rd.

Traffic on the road - ranked one of the nation's most dangerous with many intersections - is forecast to shrink from 40,000 vehicles a day to just 6550 once the main 6km section of motorway opens between Westgate and the Upper Harbour Bridge at Greenhithe.

Combined with the 5.5km motorway section from Greenhithe to Albany, which opened in 2007, it will provide a seamless link between West Auckland and North Shore.


The Westgate interchange also marks the start of a 3km extension of the Northwestern Motorway.

But although there will be east-facing ramps for vehicles heading to North Shore, traffic from the north will have no direct link to the Hobsonville motorway, disappointing residents of communities such as Kumeu.

The Transport Agency says the best it could do within its budget, and until traffic volumes grow around a new urban centre at Massey North, is to "future-proof" the interchange for potential north-facing ramps.

Senior project manager Rachel Kirk yesterday said the main new link would not provide a cure-all for congestion woes.

There was likely to be some morning queuing to reach the Northwestern Motorway from Hobsonville and similar congestion in the opposite direction in the afternoon peak.

But Ms Kirk said the agency was hoping for travel time savings of up to six minutes in each "tidal" peak direction, compared with the existing crawl along Hobsonville Rd for long-suffering commuters.

She also predicted major safety gains from taking large volumes of traffic off what was ranked the sixth most dangerous stretch of road in New Zealand.

Upper Harbour Local Board chairman Brian Neeson said the project was the best thing to happen to West Auckland for years.

ON THE WEB

nzta.govt.nz/projects/hobsonville

$220m motorway link to open early - National - NZ Herald News

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Anski
Always on the move - Australia, UK, South Africa, Sri Lanka, France, Spain,Cyprus, & others

Bridge connects the waterfront
Monday Aug 1, 2011

Aucklanders will be wowed when the first stage of the new Wynyard Quarter opens on Saturday. This week the Herald features the seven public projects that form the core of the $120m development.

Aucklanders will get an early taste of a $120 million waterfront development on Wednesday when a new bridge linking the Viaduct Harbour to Wynyard Quarter opens.

Dummy runs for the $3.7 million Wynyard Crossing (or Te Wero Bridge) begin today before an official blessing on Wednesday morning, after which the pedestrian and cycle bridge will open to the public.

But access to Wynyard Quarter will be limited to the new $32 million Viaduct Events Centre where the Auckland Art Fair opens on Thursday.

The crossing is one of seven public projects costing $120 million at Wynyard Quarter that Prime Minister John Key and Auckland Mayor Len Brown will open on Saturday.

They include the newly cobbled and landscaped Jellicoe St, a public plaza across the bridge at the entrance to Wynyard Quarter, the North Wharf promenade, Silo Park at the western end of Jellicoe St and a 1.5km tramcircuit.

Wynyard Crossing will provide direct access from downtown Auckland, via the Viaduct Harbour, to Wynyard Quarter.

Waterfront Auckland chief executive John Dalzell said the bridge would enable locals and visitors to connect with a new part of the harbour edge, buy fresh fish from boats unloading at North Wharf, enjoy restaurants and bars and stroll west to a new children's playground and park overlooking Westhaven Marina.

Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney said the Wynyard Quarter would be one of the "stars of the show" at the Rugby World Cup.

The 100m crossing is a double bascule opening bridge with three approach spans, a back span and a lifting section to provide a 36m channel clearance for boats when open.

At high tide, there will be a 3m clearance beneath the bridge, so smaller vessels can pass underneath when it is closed.

The bridge movement will be managed by an operator positioned at the western end of the crossing. The operator will lift the bridge - 90 seconds to open and 60 to shut - when requested by radio from vessels entering or leaving the Viaduct Basin. Signals at both ends will warn pedestrians and cyclists that the bridge is about to open.

The 5m-wide bridge will be for pedestrians and cyclists only. Plans for a 40m-wide bridge costing about $50 million were shelved by the former Auckland City Council, but could be revised at some stage to take trams or light-rail into the city.

__________________
Anski
Always on the move - Australia, UK, South Africa, Sri Lanka, France, Spain,Cyprus, & others

The transformation of downtown Auckland

Back from a stint across the Tasman, Rebecca Kamm gets reacquainted with her hometown and likes what she sees.



Aotea Square has been spruced up and includes well-landscaped gardens, plus Aotea centre now houses a cafe and bar. Photo / Michael Bradley
The power of urban landscapes to affect our mood is well-documented. So environmental psychologists won't be surprised to hear that when I moved to Melbourne almost two years ago, I had to pinch myself. The laneways, the plazas, the bumbling old trams shunting through wide, boutique-lined shops; paved pavilions, quirky sculptures, dynamic, tasteful gallery buildings and events centres. Wherever I turned, I was in my element.

But the splendour of this (admittedly, much larger) city, is also why - when I returned to Auckland recently - I couldn't help but wonder if my hometown would measure up. Because sure, Auckland is unique and beautiful and the gateway to incredible beaches unlike any other in the world, but boy did its CBD need an overhaul. Would it ever happen?

Apparently, yes. Because it seems that while my back was turned, Auckland was, er, kicked into action by the impending 2011 Rugby World Cup. And entire quarters of the city have either been made over already, or are well on their way. The waterfront has fancy new structures I've never seen before, and men in hard hats are all over the show, making way for trams and restaurant strips and park areas.

Not to mention the transformation of regular old streets into pedestrian-friendly spaces, many unrecognisable. Who knew?

Not me. So I'm right on board when Heart of the City's Alex Swney offers to pop me on the back of his scooter for a re-acquaintance. Alex, bursting with dogged enthusiasm for the creation of a welcoming Auckland CBD, is the perfect guide for this particular outing. His unwavering vision is underpinned by an admiration of overseas success stories such as Chicago's award-winning Millennium Park, a 10ha civic centre filled with natural and cultural amenities. The idea, he says, or hollers into the wind as we zoom along, is to develop spaces for people, rather than let transport infrastructure dictate the look of the city.

Our first stop is Wynyard Quarter, the 35ha block of land I've only ever known as a desolate and somewhat mysterious expanse of port activity, between the Viaduct Harbour and Westhaven Marina. In fact, it's a bit startling to find it's now a series of interconnected public spaces I'm genuinely excited to spend time in. Like Jellicoe St, home to the Auckland Seafood Market and formerly a semi-industrial road. No more: in just over two months, it'll be a cobblestoned and native tree-lined boulevard and a foodies' dream, with markets lining its fancy edges. And just to make that proposition even better, two lovely old 1920s trams will operate a 15-minute and 1.5km clockwise circuit along Jellicoe, Halsey, Gaunt and Daldy streets. Touchingly, that first ride will mark the first time in more than 50 years trams will have run on Auckland streets. Even the muddy, virgin tracks have an air of anticipation.

On the seaward side of Jellicoe Street is North Wharf Promenade, promising to further foodies' joy, with 10 seafood restaurants to open by August. And a good stretch of promenade along which to stagger, full-tummied, afterwards.

You might also want to cart your full tummy to Silo Park, an expanse of green on the western edge of Jellicoe St, named after the large silos that will remain, in recognition of the land's industrial history. Ready by August, it will host an outdoor cinema on summer evenings.

Incidentally, when those summer evenings arrive and you're darting about the waterfront marvelling at all the novelty, you'll be grateful for Wynyard Crossing, a new opening bridge that will link up the Viaduct Harbour and Wynyard Quarter.

Another jewel in Wynyard Quarter's crown is Gateway Plaza, on the corner of Halsey and Jellicoe streets. With all the feature seating, public art and lovely wide steps that slope downwards to touch the water's edge, you'll probably want to make it a fairly regular stomping ground from around late July.

Scooting along to the Viaduct, we hit the rather elegant Viaduct Events Centre, on the Halsey St extension wharf. It's still surrounded by the mud and mess of construction, but I get the idea, and I like it. Large and looming (it'll seat 1400 people), it also possesses a certain lightness, with its large glass panes and roof of static, undulating waves. The perfect host for New Zealand's next Fashion Week.

Next up: The Cloud, a temporary tent-like structure on Queens Wharf, purpose-built to act as a World Cup "fanzone" during matches and host concerts and festival events. At almost 180m long, it looks remarkably like a luminous caterpillar with an arch in its back (some people, I'm told, unkindly call it "the slug" but it's smarter than that). It is an odd, yet endearing, companion for the adjacent Shed 10, the permanent cruise ship terminal that will also host RWC 2011 fanzone activities.

But it's not just the waterfront that's changed. As we head away from the water, I catch glimpses of Auckland's new series of "shared spaces", an urban landscaping practice also used in Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. Interestingly, merging the footpath with the road to put people first and create more vibrant city sectors actually makes roads safer, too. Which means Elliot, Darby, Lorne, O'Connell and Fort streets now have it made.

As does Aotea Square. Last time I looked, it was a slightly shabby square shared by bored-looking workers ( including me) and pigeons. Suddenly, it's a smooth, paved expanse flanked by well-landscaped gardens. What's more, the Aotea Centre's been polished, with a cafe and bar - Box - on its terrace.

On our return, Alex takes me past the refurbished Auckland Art Gallery building on Kitchener St, which will open September 3. Its kauri roof panels and understated beauty are perfect, and its pedestrian link between Kitchener St and Albert Park an opening-up of this little pocket of the city.

Of course, these aren't the only changes. There's Britomart's numerous new bars and restaurants. And smaller, subtler tweaks all over the city that continue to catch my eye. But the ones I've seen today have worked their charm. Climbing off the scooter, I thank Alex for showing me my new old city, and really mean it.

There's a time and a place - and it's now and it's Auckland. I'm very happy to be here.

__________________
Anski
Always on the move - Australia, UK, South Africa, Sri Lanka, France, Spain,Cyprus, & others

Motorway opens 6mths ahead of schedule
06/08/2011



A $220 million motorway project which is part of the Government's Roads of National Significance was opened today, six months ahead of schedule.

The Hobsonville Motorway is part of the Auckland region's Western Ring Route - a 48 kilometre alternative to State Highway 1 running between Manukau and Albany via State Highways 20, 16 and 18.

The Government designated the route as a Road of National Significance saying it was important to growth in Auckland and in the wider economy because it aimed to significantly reduce congestion in north-west Auckland and improve journey times.

The Hobsonville Motorway is one of three major Auckland motorway projects opening ahead of schedule. In July of last year, the Manukau Harbour Crossing opened seven months ahead of schedule and the Victoria Park Tunnel will open to two lanes of traffic in November - three months earlier than anticipated.

Wynyard Quarter hosts 50,000 visitors
SARAH HARVEY
Last updated 11:04 08/08/2011



More than 50,000 people celebrated the opening of Wynyard Quarter on Auckland's waterfront at the weekend.

The area was officially opened by Prime Minister John Key and Auckland Mayor Len Brown on Saturday, and it has been hailed as a resounding success by the public, Waterfront Auckland and the owners of cafes, restaurants and bars on the North Wharf.

The $120 million facelift is the first stage of the Wynyard Quarter redevelopment and includes a new pedestrian bridge linking the Viaduct Harbour with the new North Wharf development.

Nine new restaurants and bars, in buildings that resemble old fishing sheds, open onto the wharf which remains as a working fishing wharf.

Meanwhile, police have lodged a last-minute application with Auckland Council to get a temporary liquor ban in the Wynyard Quarter area during the Rugby World Cup.

The 24-hour liquor ban, if approved, would be an extension of the CBD liquor ban in force for the tournament. It would come into force on September 1 and go through until October 31.