Maioro Street dynamic bus lanes and safety improvements

About the Maioro Street dynamic bus lane

The kerbside lane on Maioro Street (citybound) will become a dedicated bus lane from 6am to 10am on weekdays. This will help redistribute the road space in the morning peak hours. The centre lane will be converted into a citybound general traffic lane. 

The dynamic bus lane will reduce travel times for citybound buses and create improvements in general traffic flow. The opposing direction of travel will not have any impact with this change.

Timeline

25 August

The overhead signs will switch on, but all lanes will continue operating as usual until 7 September. This will give you time to get used to the overhead signs and LEDs.

8 September

The dynamic bus lane goes live for the first time. The eastbound bus lane will operate on Maioro Street from 6am to 10am on weekdays.

How the dynamic bus lane will work

Dynamic lanes use technology to redistribute road space, increasing the capacity of existing roads. They're quicker and less disruptive to build than new lanes.

We've installed three gantries with overhead signs and in-road LED lights. These will show you which lanes are open for use. Yellow in-road LED lights will mean a no-passing line between opposing directions of traffic. White in-road LED lights will be used to help with lane guidance. Signs positioned at the start and end of the dynamic lane system will pre-warn you of the operation.

Morning peak operation

From 6am to 10am on weekdays, the citybound kerbside lane will become a dedicated bus lane. The central lane will convert into a general traffic lane during the same time. During this time, overhead signs will show drivers which lanes are available to use. 

You'll not be able to take right turns into and out of Cordelia Place, Roseville Street, and Rosamund Avenue during these hours. If you're turning right into a private driveway, you'll need to do so from a traffic lane. This because the flush median will not be available during this time.

Off-peak operation

Outside of the weekday morning peak period, Maioro Street will operate as it currently does. This means you'll have two general traffic lanes in each direction, with a flush median in the central lane. 

A flush median is usually marked with diagonal white stripes, but on Maioro Street it will be identified by the overhead ‘flush median’ sign. You will be able to take right turns into and out of Cordelia Place, Rosamund Avenue, and Roseville Street using the central lane.

How the bus lane will change through the day

To switch between the two operating modes, there will be brief transition periods. These will be from 5:55am to 6am to begin the bus lane, and again from 10am to 10:04am to move back into normal operation. These transitions will guide vehicles as the lanes reconfigure, by sequentially closing and opening lanes.

Yellow overhead arrows will warn you to move out of a closing lane in the direction shown, when it is safe to do so. Once a lane is closed, red overhead crosses will appear. LED studs on the road will also provide clear lane guidance throughout this process.

The pedestrian crossing on Maioro Street might take a little longer to show a green signal during these transition phases. This is to make sure that drivers are not stopped at the crossing while a lane is closing. As with the morning peak operation, right turns into and out of side roads are not permitted during transition periods.

Project background

Maioro Street is a key road linking New Lynn and SH20, used by around 40,000 vehicles daily. It faces significant congestion during morning peak hours, with 16–18 buses and 1,600 vehicles travelling eastbound (citybound) per hour. This causes delays for both buses and general traffic.

We have finished constructing a dynamic bus lane along the eastbound side of Maioro Street to reduce this congestion.  Pedestrian safety improvements, including 2 new pedestrian crossings have also been added.

Benefits of this project include:

• a more efficient public transport system, with improved bus reliability
  
  
• improved safety for students crossing the intersection of Maioro Street and New Windsor Road
  
  
• a safe place for bus users and local children to cross Maioro Street
  
  
• improved pathways for pedestrians and cyclists, making it easier to use the shared path on Maioro Street.

Download design scheme (PDF, 3.3MB)

Community engagement

To improve bus travel and better manage traffic flow along Maioro Street, we invited feedback on 2 potential designs: dynamic bus lanes and a T2 transit lane. Both aimed to improve bus travel and better manage traffic flow along Maioro Street. We’ve compiled a feedback summary that includes community views on both proposals and our responses to their main concerns.

Download the Maioro Street community feedback summary (PDF, 949KB).

Full feedback reports for both proposals are also available:

• Download Maioro Street - Dynamic lanes and safety improvements 2022 (PDF, 1.8MB)
• Download Tiverton Road to Maioro Street - T2 lane and safety improvements 2023 (PDF, 2.8MB)

Next steps

We will monitor driver behaviour following the Maioro Street dynamic bus lane becoming operational. This will help us understand how people are adapting and address any issues.

As with recent dynamic lanes on Whangaparoa Road and Redoubt Road, Maioro Street contains traffic control devices being trialled to enable the effective communication of the dynamic bus lane.