AUCKLAND: Transport Discussion (Part 1)

[atkinson1]

Haha Glenfield road? Are you sure? I go there alot and I havn't seen much work being done.

Originally Posted by atkinson1

Haha Glenfield road? Are you sure? I go there alot and I havn't seen much work being done.

Its on the North Shore City website. Work starts September

[atkinson1]

Hmm that's not much different to the way that stretch of road looks now. The only difference is those 2 lanes on the right (near the bottom) currently merge into one. Maybe those bus lanes are new though.

[KIWIKAAS]

Originally Posted by atkinson1

Hmm that's not much different to the way that stretch of road looks now. The only difference is those 2 lanes on the right (near the bottom) currently merge into one. Maybe those bus lanes are new though.

Nope, no merge to one. 4-lanes.

[KIWIKAAS]

Originally Posted by atkinson1

Hmm that's not much different to the way that stretch of road looks now. The only difference is those 2 lanes on the right (near the bottom) currently merge into one. Maybe those bus lanes are new though.

Nope, no merge to one. 4-lanes + bus lane.
The residents opted for a no parking throughway.
Work should start on a $12m upgrade of Glenfield Rd in September.

Having concluded its latest round of consultation on the project, the North Shore City Council is now going forward with obtaining the necessary planning approvals to construct the first phase of the corridor upgrade from Bentley Ave to Camrose Rd and the Sunset Rd intersection.

Chairperson of the council’s works and environment committee, Councillor Joel Cayford, says Glenfield Rd is a major traffic route experiencing high volumes of vehicle traffic. “It is expected that the amount of traffic using this route will increase in the future. We are upgrading the road to improve safety and increase its capacity to move people and traffic, while improving its amenity for people who live nearby,” he says.

The proposed road upgrading will occur between Bentley Ave and Sunset Rd to provide for four lanes of traffic throughout the route. On road cycle lanes will also be provided, and bus priority measures will be established at Bentley Ave, Hogans Rd, and Sunset Rd intersections

Bruce.

[NZer]

wtf,you are appearing as KIWIKAAS again.

There are some stretches of Great South Rd which could do with some work like that too.

[KIWIKAAS]

Originally Posted by NZer

wtf,you are appearing as KIWIKAAS again.

There are some stretches of Great South Rd which could do with some work like that too.

Oops.Here I am again. Sorry for the confusion. Just checking my old CP and doing some KIWIKAAS replies.

There are lots of roads in Auckland that could use that sort of treatment and all together would cost much less than 1 Eastern Hwy.

What about Onewa Rd, Lake Rd, Dominion Rd, Mt eden Rd, Sandringham rd, New North Rd, Great North Rd, Newton Rd, Khyber Pass Rd, Manukau Rd, Balmoral and Greenlane rds, Mt Albert Rd, Kohimarama Rd, St Johns Rd, to name but a few.
The whole Auckland road system needs a big make over. As it is now, it hardly compares to many European urban road systems (and thats saying something).

[NZer]

Yes,I've always wondered what it must be like trying to drive into town on Dominion Rd in peak hour.
You can see the Skytower,but it's gonna take a loooooong time to get there!!

Balmoral Road/Greenlane West is actually quite good at the moment-I was impressed last time I was on it,plus the intersections it has with other major roads are quite generous in size.Only 2-2 if I remember correctly,but it is nice and straight and I think there is also a lot of on street parking in sections,wide enough to make it 3-3.

Are Europes Urban road systems not so good? Is it because of the age of some of the roads and surrounding buildings?

[KIWIKAAS]

Originally Posted by NZer

Yes,I've always wondered what it must be like trying to drive into town on Dominion Rd in peak hour.
You can see the Skytower,but it's gonna take a loooooong time to get there!!

Balmoral Road/Greenlane West is actually quite good at the moment-I was impressed last time I was on it,plus the intersections it has with other major roads are quite generous in size.Only 2-2 if I remember correctly,but it is nice and straight and I think there is also a lot of on street parking in sections,wide enough to make it 3-3.

Are Europes Urban road systems not so good? Is it because of the age of some of the roads and surrounding buildings?

Netherlands:
Apart from the obvious older areas, many of the urban roads were constructed during the recovery period after WW2. At that time very few people had a car and no allowances were made for generous parking. With an expanded tram network and new laws governing the way traffic and bicycles should be catered for (1970s) meant that many standard roads have to cater for tram lines, traffic lanes, parking, and segregated cycle ways and footpaths. As youn can imagine, this can become a squeeze. On the same note many post war through roads were built to accomodate 2 lanes of traffic per direction + a parking lane and footpath prior to the cycleway legestlation. On the other hand, Nothshore and most post war Auckland suburbs stuck with the old 1 lane per direction + parking lane layout, with apparently no thought to the future.

Bruce.

[NZer]

So,do motorways take most of the through traffic in the Netherlands around towns/cities or are there a lot of towns with traffic still passing through on 4 or 6 lane arterials or "main streets" ?

[atkinson1]

Originally Posted by KIWIKAAS

Nope, no merge to one. 4-lanes.

No. I meant:

You see those 2 lanes on the render going north? Well those currently merge into one lane after the lights. So now it's 2, plus a bus lane.

[KIWIKAAS]

Originally Posted by NZer

So,do motorways take most of the through traffic in the Netherlands around towns/cities or are there a lot of towns with traffic still passing through on 4 or 6 lane arterials or "main streets" ?

There are nearly 2500km of motorway in Holland in a country 40000km² (NZ = aprox 250000km²) or about 1/3 the size of the North Island. Travelling by road any real distance is on motorways (the motorways are the countries highways). There are some secondary roads that pass through towns but these are usually just 2 lane roads. Virtually all cities and major towns have bypass roads. You will only pass through a town when driving locally (and even then that will most likely not be the main shopping street). Main streets in NZ tend to be wider than the old village centres in European countries so it is usually possible to run the through traffic right through the centre of town (although this makes for a less attractive and offen noisey main street).

[NZer]

Interesting.
There are a lot of towns in NZ that could use a bypass,but few would have the numbers of traffic on their existing main through route to justify the money involved in building one.Then there are those which desperately need a bypass.
Cambridge is a good example,but I'm not quite sure what will happen to the Waikato Expressway when it gets to Cambridge.


I often wonder,if New Zealand ever had an especially bad year (or years) for road crashes on SH1,with a lot higher number of deaths,would there suddenly be serious proposals for an Auckland - Wellington Motorway.There have been hundreds of fatalities on the Waikato stretch of this road and it is only now that a quality road is being built there.

I guess after Cambridge it will be Tirau,then after Tirau it will be Putaruru,then Tokoroa,then Taupo etc,etc.

Originally Posted by NZer

Interesting.
There are a lot of towns in NZ that could use a bypass,but few would have the numbers of traffic on their existing main through route to justify the money involved in building one.Then there are those which desperately need a bypass.
Cambridge is a good example,but I'm not quite sure what will happen to the Waikato Expressway when it gets to Cambridge.


I often wonder,if New Zealand ever had an especially bad year (or years) for road crashes on SH1,with a lot higher number of deaths,would there suddenly be serious proposals for an Auckland - Wellington Motorway.There have been hundreds of fatalities on the Waikato stretch of this road and it is only now that a quality road is being built there.

I guess after Cambridge it will be Tirau,then after Tirau it will be Putaruru,then Tokoroa,then Taupo etc,etc.

1973 and 1989 were very bad years I believe. The road toll now is somewhat lower at around 400 I think (the high was 800+ I beleive). You might be interested to know that the road toll here with 16 million people is around the 1000 mark. Thats a rate of about 2 thirds (per capita) of that in NZ (to have the same NZ would have to have a toll of 250 per year) . It has alot to do with road enginering. Dispite a 18 year old age limit and expensive (and compulsary) driver education the behaviour of drivers is hardly beter than in NZ. However there is much invested in enginering of roads to make them safer.
A few examples:
1.All motorways have steel crash barriers instead of concrete. Even a motorway with a grass median 12 metres wide has a crash barrier. All on and off ramps have a long merging/ departing lane of about 300m. All busy motorways have speed/lane closure signage every 500m above each lane (so that they can show variable messaging per lane).
2.All residential streets have speed bumps.
3.There is a clear difference in road marking between 50 and 30km zones and zones of 70,80,100 or 120 kmph.
4.On arterial roads of 70/80 kmph there are 50kmph speed bumps preceding traffic lights.
5. There is a long delay (sometime 5 seconds or more between switching to red on the one direction to green on the other).
6.Enginering of residential neighbourhoods to cancel out through traffic. 7.Seperate cycle ways and/or lanes with seperate traffic lights (you will never see a cyclist on the motorvehicle lanes on a highway).
8.Inside urban areas the lanes are skinnier than in NZ to keep speed down. Even on multilane roads the lanes are never more than 3 metres wide and offen less. This means that a truck or bus has difficulty fitting into the lane and that overtaking cars must use the extremities of their lane to pass.
9. Speed cameras with a 3kmph allowance (in NZ thats 10kmph).
10. If you hit a pedestrian or cyclist you (as a car/truck/bus driver) are automatically responsible (no matter what, unless you where standing still at a traffic light and a cyclist runs into you). The premis here is that the cyclist is more vulnerable and as a driver you have the responsibility to anticipate and adjust to situations where a colission might occur.

As for bypasses in NZ. There are plenty of places I can think off that should have a bypass whether that be a motorway, expressway, 2 lane highway or a urban road diverting traffic from the main shopping/ cultural street.
Btw. A bypass of Cambridge is in the Waikato Exwy package.

[flyin_higher]

I thought this was interesting...
btw- anyone else heard of the 'Peak Oil' idea? There was a good article in National Geographic about it a few months back.


Road report ignores reality of 'peak oil', say Greens

NZ Herald
25.08.2004
1.00pm
Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is questioning the wisdom of building billions of dollars worth of new roads around the country, saying the rising price of oil will eventually leave them empty.

A four-pronged roading spend-up is recommended in a report commissioned by the Automobile Association which was released this morning.

The report says the economic benefits of completing a national passing lanes project, Auckland's western ring road, Wellington's regional land transport package and Western Bay of Plenty's Strategic Roading Network will be four times the cost of $2.4 billion.

The report was produced by Allen Consulting Group and Infometrics, with backing from the Employers and Manufacturers Association and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

"This report applies to a fantasy world in which petrol is less than a dollar a litre and where everyone owns a car and drives it everywhere," said Ms Fitzsimons, the Green Party's Transport spokesperson.

"The reality is we're fast using up all the easily extractible oil reserves and fast approaching the point of peak oil supply, after which oil will be priced beyond the affordability of the ordinary motorist."

Ms Fitzsimons said planners should be preparing for a fundamental change in transport behaviour rather than fuelling road-builders' fantasies.

"A case in point is the Western Bay of Plenty project, which is touted in the AA report as demonstrating 'the greatest benefits to its region and the nation for every dollar spent'.

"The Port of Tauranga already has an excellent rail terminal that receives 60 per cent of the freight arriving at the port. Instead of throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at building roads for trucks, we should be looking at using the existing rail network throughout the Bay and the surrounding region and building links to key industries that use the port."

"Similarly in Auckland, which has already invested in Britomart and improved rail services. The priority must be to connect the city by rail, with a city-to-airport line and a connection from Britomart to the western line, so that the city is part of a through-service and not just a rail dead-end."

Alasdair Thompson, chief executive of the EMA, said the report found the degree of connectedness provided by major urban road networks in New Zealand was lower than in comparable countries.

He said investing far more in roads would offer a long list of benefits.

"The gains would be like those achieved in Australia including lower vehicle operating costs, less time spent in travel, better safety with fewer accidents and less accident damage, better environmental outcomes, and higher work productivity.

"The benefits flowing on indirectly would be evident not only in lower costs for moving freight such as groceries, and less costs for passenger transport, but also as they translate into higher incomes and better public health."

He said the report found that value of New Zealand roads declined as a proportion of GDP by over 19 per cent in the six years between 1993 and 1999, and has since increased by around nine per cent.

At the same time over the past decade the total kilometres travelled by both passenger vehicles increased by 113 per cent with distances travelled by commercial vehicles increasing 122 per cent.

Mr Thompson that despite recent increases in road funding, the annual spending on roads in New Zealand was still below the OECD average of 1.3 per cent of GDP.

"This indicates if we don't accelerate our commitment to road construction, our standards of education and health will continue to slip backwards compared to other OECD countries."

National Party transport spokesman Maurice Williamson said the report showed the time for talk was over.

"This report supports the view that huge benefits will be gained by pushing on urgently with key roading projects, and it is clear the Government must move now," he said.

"Unlike most other areas of policy, the Government could have a win-win-win by listening to these findings."

The four major projects studied by Allen Consulting would all eventually be built anyway but this report showed what massive gains could be made by front-end loading the funding through infrastructure bonds and completing these projects by 2012, Mr Williamson said.

Act Party leader Rodney Hide said the report highlighted "woeful underfunding" of New Zealand's road infrastructure, with the cost counted in lost lives and economic opportunities foregone.

Revised highway ends up as byway

26.08.2004
By MATHEW DEARNALEY
Auckland's controversial eastern highway faces being bled into a pale shadow of its former self, reducing traffic to 50km/h on long stretches and to a two-lane bridge across Hobson Bay.

Both Auckland City Mayor John Banks and his Manukau counterpart, Sir Barry Curtis, endorsed in principle yesterday a consultants' report recommending a hacked-back version of the project on which they have hung their political hats.

But they emphasised it would be up to their councils to make final decisions after the October elections, leaving opponents concerned the project may yet be revved back up, once political pressure eases.

The arterial road rather than motorway project now recommended by Opus International Consultants at a cost of about $1.2 billion is a far cry from a grandiose proposal proffered in March which threatened to balloon to almost $4 billion.

Auckland City passenger transport committee chairman Greg McKeown, who heads the project's political steering committee, said the far leaner scheme represented a "big step forward, moving a smaller foot".

He emphasised a need to "manage" travel demand and encourage greater use of buses and trains to complement road-building.

But AA spokesman Stephen Selwood lamented what he called a significantly compromised option which would deny motorists a direct connection to the Northwestern Motorway through Grafton Gully.

"We risk managing down our ability to do business and enjoy our way of life - it reduces our mobility, which is what stimulates economic growth."

Instead of extending to at least three lanes in each direction, including a bus lane and with parallel pedestrian and cycleways along its 27km route, the project is likely to be cut to no more than two lanes.

Bus lanes from Britomart to Panmure and a tunnel under Parnell have already been chopped from the project, and the consultants now recommend that a bridge across Hobson Bay be confined to just one traffic lane in each direction.

This has failed to placate Action Hobson city council candidate Christine Caughey, who said any spread of tarmac across the bay was unacceptable.

Gone is a plan to widen Tamaki Drive to at least four lanes each way, which Mr McKeown said would have required a major harbour reclamation and a sprawling and unsightly traffic interchange around Gladstone Rd on the waterfront.

Also off the drawing board are sections of elevated motorway next to Mt Wellington Highway and Waipuna Rd, which will now be merely widened for inclusion in the project, although there will be a duplicate Pakuranga Bridge.

A link to East Tamaki through Allens Rd, entailing another bridge across Tamaki River to Mt Wellington via Panama Rd, will be considered later as a possible add-on at an extra cost of about $400 million.

The use of existing roads means vehicles will be restricted to 50km/h everywhere except for the 9km between Hobson Bay and Glen Innes, where speeds of up to 80km/h will be allowed.

Tamaki Drive will remain a 50km zone, after the new road joins it next to the Outdoor Boating Club, and project director Grant Kirby admitted the stretch between there and the central city would remain a traffic bottleneck.

The only indicated bus lanes will be between Pakuranga and Panmure, where passengers will be encouraged to switch to trains, but not even these are guaranteed unless they can be squeezed into the existing Ti Rakau Drive without any neighbouring property purchases.

Only about 260 homes and businesses will be displaced along the route, compared with 1270 under the original plan.

Just over 200 will be in Auckland City, mostly around Panmure and Glen Innes, where the road will be sunk into a 350m covered trench for $60 million to $90 million to avoid cutting off the town centre from business and university developments.

Mr Banks said property purchases in the earlier plan would have cost Auckland about $900 million, compared with about $90 million for the new proposal.

Neither mayor was willing to concede defeat yesterday, with Sir Barry calling the new proposal an excellent one and Mr Banks denying he ever committed himself to anything grander. He admitted not realising it would have been so difficult to fulfil his pledge at the last election to build an "eastern transport corridor".

[flyin_higher]

Yeah, this is good news- the original proposal was ridiculously large. Still doubful about it actually being built though, as the funding looks shaky.

Originally Posted by flyin_higher

Yeah, this is good news- the original proposal was ridiculously large. Still doubful about it actually being built though, as the funding looks shaky.

Looks like it will more or less come down to an upgrade of the existing roads, which is exactly what it should be.

Add a lane to the Sthern Mwy for the same result as the whole expressway proposal for a fraction of the cost.

[flyin_higher]

NZ Herald
$23m project on track

18.09.2004


Workers lay the first section of double-tracking along Auckland's western rail line in a $23.2 million project designed to speed up peak-hour services.

Trains should be running on the new Mt Eden section within a week and the total 7.5km dual-passage between Boston Rd and Avondale should be finished by January.

Train services will be replaced by bus shuttles all day today between Morningside Station and Britomart, and between peak hours during week-days for the next four weeks.

[Marky Mark]

Found this article on average driving speeds to work in Auckland , Tauranga , Wellington , and Christchurch . A bit interesting !

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...ection=general