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Grafton Road, Grafton – Pedestrian crossing Grafton Road, Grafton – Pedestrian crossing

Proposal status: Feedback closed 7 October 2019, last updated 29 October 2019

Reference number: MIP1819-069

We've proposed changes in your area

In October 2019, we proposed a new pedestrian crossing with traffic signals on Grafton Road, Grafton.

Specific changes include:

  • new pedestrian signal crossing, to provide a safe crossing point for pedestrians
  • new raised median island, to prevent people from "U turning"
  • converting 10 paid parking spaces to 7 P5 drop-off and pick-up spaces, to improve the safety of people being dropped-off
  • moving the Loading Zone to provide for the new crossing and replacing it with a ‘small passenger vehicle zone’ to provide for taxis and couriers
  • tree trimming on Engineering School side of Grafton Road to improve visibility of the crossing
  • new cycle racks to meet increased demand for bike parking.

Please note that the proposed design and funding envelope do not currently provide for a cycleway. However, the design is flexible enough to allow cycling facilities to be incorporated in future projects.

A pedestrian crossing with traffic signals is preferable over a zebra crossing at this location due to Grafton Road’s width and high traffic volume. A zebra crossing on a multi-lane road would create safety concerns due to limited visibility between motorists and pedestrians.

Download the proposal drawing for Grafton Road (PDF 1MB) 

Why the changes are needed

Our proposal responds to a request from Auckland University to improve pedestrian safety between the Business School and the Engineering School. The proposed pedestrian crossing is expected to significantly improve pedestrian safety and convenience and reduce instances of hazardous “U turns” which often occur when drivers are picking up and dropping off passengers.

Proposal outcome

The proposed pedestrian crossing will proceed to the next stage of detailed planning before being constructed. Thank you to everyone who responded to our proposal and gave us the chance to better understand your community and concerns. A summary of your feedback and our responses to community questions is below.

Community feedback

  • Request that Grafton Road be reduced to one lane to provide for cycleway, to accommodate for the number of students using bicycles and electric scooters. Providing for a cycleway by reducing the multi-lane road to one lane on Grafton Road is outside of the scope of this project. This is largely due to the time and funding constraints which focus on providing a safe pedestrian crossing before the opening of the new engineering building in February 2020. Changing the design of the road to reduce it to one lane and provide a cycleway would require a major redesign and build. This is because of the multiple directions that traffic can flow at the intersection of Grafton and Stanley. In this project we have attempted to cater for cyclists within the constraints while providing a safe crossing for pedestrians. The project is future proofed by being designed to not preclude the installation of future cycle facilities, including the development of a cycle lane.
  • Request to provide for a cycleway to link up Grafton Gully cycleway and to link up the wider cycling network. Grafton Road has been identified in Auckland Transport’s Proposed Auckland Cycle Network plan as a link between the Grafton Gully cycleway and Auckland University. However, providing for a cycleway on Grafton Road is outside of the scope of this project. This is largely due to the time and funding constraints which focus on providing a safe pedestrian crossing before the opening of the new engineering building in February 2020. The project has been designed to not preclude the installation of future cycle facilities. Find out more about the Proposed Auckland Cycle Network.
  • Request to change signalised crossing to a raised zebra crossing, as there are much more people crossing than vehicle traffic. A zebra crossing would allow traffic to be stopped at the demand of pedestrians. The specifics of this site place the crossing point near a major intersection on Symonds Street where major flows occur. By installing a signalised crossing rather than a zebra the crossing times can be coordinated with the Symonds Street intersection. Coordinating the timing of minimises the risk of the crossing time interfering with the traffic flow from Symonds Street and causing congestion.
  • Request to consider the necessity of having two lanes going downhill from Symonds Street. Grafton Road needs to have multiple lanes to provide for the safe flow of traffic at the intersection of Grafton and Stanley Street. A significant investigation into changing the road layout of Grafton Road would be required to justify such a major redesign and rebuild. This is considered outside of the current scope of the project and would have significant impacts in terms of investment and timing. We need to have the pedestrian crossing in place before February 2020. We will be continuing to work with the University to investigate future improvements on Grafton Road in the future.

Next steps

These works are planned to be completed by February 2020, but we will let you know if there are further changes or delays.

Our contractors will send notices to affected residents 48-hours prior to construction starting.