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Hobson, Nelson and Fanshawe streets safety project Hobson, Nelson and Fanshawe streets safety project

Auckland Transport is making some improvements to these three arterial routes to make them safer for all people. 

Project Zone: Central
Status: In progress

Project updates 

  • Implementation of the project’s soft measures is in progress, from electronic sign installation and high-friction surfacing (Fanshawe Street only) to speed limit repeater signs and threshold markings.
  • Following this, the next steps are to undertake monitoring and evaluation of these installed measures.

Project overview 

Over the next 30 years, a million more people will call Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland home, and we’re hard at work to make our city a place we can all be proud of, one that puts people at its heart – creating a greener, safer and better-connected city centre for everyone. 

It is Auckland Transport’s role, as the region’s local road-controlling authority, to keep all road users, whether they walk, cycle, drive, scoot, or skate, safe. Our Vision Zero approach values human life over all other benefits, like travel time-savings. 

In June 2020, the speed limit on Hobson, Nelson and Fanshawe streets was reduced to 40km/hr. We know, though, that most vehicles using these corridors are travelling faster than 40km/hr. 

The Hobson, Nelson and Fanshawe streets safety project introduces measures to encourage people to travel at or below the speed limit. 

Project details 

The Hobson, Nelson, and Fanshawe Streets safety project is exploring a broad range of measures to address safety issues on these three key central city roads. Auckland is a Vision Zero region and Auckland Transport (AT) is committed to reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries (DSI) to zero in our city.

Speed limits on the majority of the city centre’s roads were reduced to 30km/hr or less in June 2020. Due to strong opposition that highlighted the movement function of these arterial roads, the speed limit on Hobson, Nelson and Fanshawe streets was reduced to 40km/hr instead of 30km/hr. The AT Board later mandated the provision of further engineering measures aimed at achieving DSI outcomes similar to the speed being reduced to 30km/hr.

Consultation completed to date 

In October 2021, we brought together representatives from a broad range of key user groups to explore the safety issues on these strategic streets. 

Then, from early to late 2022, Auckland Transport established a working group of key stakeholders to define the issues and identify potential solutions to make these roads safer for everyone. 

The working group was made up of representatives from the Waitematā Local Board, Heart of the City, the AA, the City Centre Residents Group, Fire and Emergency NZ and Waka Kotahi. 

Internal discussions have helped further refine a set of solutions for each street. 

These solutions take us a step towards creating a city centre that has streets that are better suited to the growing number of people walking and cycling around the city. You can find out more about this in Auckland Council’s City Centre Masterplan. 

Changes we are making immediately 

Some of the changes we are making, address the immediate safety concerns on each corridor by, for example, providing drivers with additional visual cues of the 40km/hr speed limit. 

We are not asking for feedback on these proposals because they do not impact the experience of driving any of the three corridors. 

The changes we are making are: 

  • High friction surfacing on the approaches to existing mid-block pedestrian crossings (Fanshawe Street crossing near Daldy Street).
  • Additional red-light running/speed cameras.
  • Signage upgrades, including driver feedback electronic signage.
  • Threshold treatments (red surfacing) and speed limit roadmarking.

Once all the changes are in place, we will monitor each corridor to determine whether speeds have reduced below 40km/hr and whether further changes are needed.