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New St, Auckland Central - Minor improvements New St, Auckland Central - Minor improvements

Consultation status: closed 15 February 2018

Proposal reference: RTV-121

We are proposing to make changes to 2 bus stops on New Street, as well as extending No stopping at all times restrictions on St Francis De Sales Street.

Download the consultation drawing for New Street (PDF 887KB)

The improvements on New Street are needed due to accessibility and parking availability issues that school buses are having.

Feedback

The proposal received positive feedback with some concerns raised by respondents. After reviewing this feedback and all other supporting evidence, the proposal will proceed without changes to the next stage of detailed planning.

Specific feedback

  • Feels streets in the vicinity of the school are too narrow; buses should use London Street instead of Saint Francis de Sales Street or Dunedin Street. We will work with the bus operators and the school and make recommendations that the buses use London Street instead of St Francis De Sales Street and Dunedin Street.
  • Feels that College Hill should become a bus clearway instead of the buses using New Street. The school requires up to 6 buses at a time, which could cause congestion along College Hill and create issues for the Auckland Transport Buses that also need to use the stops on College Hill.
  • Request for more parking removal on New Street. Removing too much parking on New Street could result in increased traffic flow speeds. The proposed restrictions should improve operations along New Street without increasing speeds, however we will continue to monitor the street and investigate any further changes as necessary.
  • Request for more signage on New Street. There is already adequate signage along New Street showing that the street is a school zone. Any extra signage would result in sign clutter.
  • Confusion over the earlier letter proposing a crossing on College Hill as well as the improvements to New Street. We apologise for any confusion caused over the proposed improvements to the crossing on College Hill. We are currently consulting on the changes internally and will consult externally after this. Any changes here will be subject to consultation.
  • Requests for calming devices on surrounding streets. The data we have for the roads mentioned does not currently warrant any traffic calming changes on any of them, however we will continue to observe the surrounding streets for speeding issues and investigate any further changes that may be required.
  • Feels the school should actively encourage alternative modes of transport. The proposed changes are improvements to the bus service to the school and the school has been active in working with us towards achieving safety improvements to alternative modes of transport for students.
  • Request to consider a school drop-off zone. The bus stop between Dunedin Street and St Francis De Sales Street will act as a school drop off zone from 8am to 9am on school days.
  • Visibility exiting St Francis De Sales Street is an issue and requires further parking restrictions on New Street. The proposed restrictions provide adequate visibility looking right for vehicles exiting St Francis De Sales Street. Exiting onto New Street can be done in a 2-stage movement. After making sure there are no vehicles are approaching from the right a driver can edge out for adequate visibility of vehicles approaching from the left. Removing too much parking could increase the speeds of vehicles travelling along New Street and also of those exiting St Francis De Sales Street.
  • Request for a zebra crossing to be installed on New Street. A zebra crossing in this location could create safety concerns due to lack of pedestrian demand. Outside of school peak hours there are not many pedestrians crossing at this location. Due to this, drivers may not expect pedestrians to be using the crossing at off peak times.
  • Make Green Street and St Francis De Sales Street one-way. Making roads one way can create operational and safety issues due to diverting a lane of traffic down another street and getting rid of the opposing flow, which can result in an increase in vehicle speeds. Opposing flows mean that vehicles have to slow down to allow others to pass and provides narrower lanes for traffic. Removing the opposing flow gives drivers a wider, unobstructed lane which they may feel more comfortable going faster down. This would have safety concerns for pedestrians, especially in a school zone.

Next steps

We expect to introduce this work between July 2018 and June 2019, subject to further changes in design or funding issues.

Contractors will issue 48-hour notices to all affected residents prior to construction work.