Mt Wellington Highway, Meadow St, Church St, and Avenue Rd improvements Stage 2
We propose new bus, walking, and cycling facilities on Mount Wellington Highway, Meadow Street, Church Street, and Avenue Road in Ōtāhuhu.
Project status: Design
Project zone: Central/South
Stage 2 overview
Southern Connections Stage 2 upgrades will provide safe, accessible facilities for public transport users, pedestrians, and people on bikes along most of the route between Māngere town centre, Ōtāhuhu Station, and Sylvia Park.
This includes:
- Supporting the new Frequent Network 32 (FN32) bus route.
- Walking and cycling facilities.
- Transit lanes.
Currently, public transport between these town centres is unreliable and time-consuming, and the road network suffers from congestion. Lack of cycling facilities, poor quality footpaths, and a lack of adequate pedestrian crossing facilities also limit people wanting to walk or cycle through the area.
Project area
This project starts at the Mount Wellington/Monahan Road/Vestey Drive roundabout, extends along Mount Wellington Highway until the Mount Wellington Highway/Atkinson Avenue junction, and continues south along Meadow Street, Church Street, and Avenue Road.
The final section of the route, linking this project through to Sylvia Park, is planned to be implemented as part of a separate project in the future.
View a detailed map of the project area and features (PDF 627KB)
Benefits
- Improved travel times and reliability for public transport users.
- Improved safety and accessibility for public transport users.
- Improved safety and accessibility for pedestrians and people on bikes.
Timeframe
We aim to deliver these improvements in 2019 and early 2020.
Features
New bus route (Frequent Network 32)
The new FN32 bus route travels from Māngere town centre, through Ōtāhuhu Station, to Sylvia Park, improving journey reliability and reducing travel time between these centres.
Previously, services required customers travelling between Māngere and Sylvia Park to transfer at Ōtāhuhu Station.
There are currently four buses per hour, in each direction, along Mount Wellington Highway between Atkinson Road and Sylvia Park. While this isn’t a high number of buses, the provision of infrastructure along FN32 is a long-term strategic decision. The goal is to increase the frequency of buses to every 10 minutes in the future.
This route was implemented as part of the New Network for South Auckland, which provides more frequent and better connected public transport throughout the area. Since the new network’s introduction in October 2016, individual passenger trips in South Auckland have increased by 15%.
View the FN32 route map (PDF 150KB)
New/upgraded bus stops
We propose upgrading existing bus stops outside numbers 640, 525, 503 and 500 Mount Wellington Highway.
Two new bus stops will also be provided, outside numbers 645 (relocated from the existing bus stop 20 metres away) and 588 Mount Wellington Highway (relocated from outside 586 Mount Wellington Highway).
The new stops will make travelling between the Ōtāhuhu and Sylvia Park town centres safer and more attractive.
Walking and cycling facilities
Driving or catching the bus doesn’t work for everyone, so we aim to provide more options for people wanting to get around by active modes. We’ll make walking and cycling safer and more attractive, meaning people can travel to and from Ōtāhuhu town centre, which is being upgraded into a more pedestrian-friendly space, quickly and easily.
The proposed combination of walking and cycling facilities and speed-calming treatments along Meadow Street, Church Street, and Avenue Road will mean people walking or on bikes can avoid busy arterial roads like Mount Wellington Highway.
These upgrades will also improve walking and cycling links to nearby town centres and facilities like Middlemore Hospital.
We propose:
- A new shared walking and cycling path on the eastern side of Mount Wellington Highway, from the Mount Wellington Highway/Panama Road intersection to Camp Road.
- New T2 transit lanes for buses, trucks and cars on both sides of Mount Wellington Highway, from Ryburn Road to Camp Road, to improve the reliability of journey times for public transport and high capacity vehicles.
- An upgraded footpath on the western side of Mount Wellington Highway, from Ryburn Road to Camp Road.
- Upgraded pedestrian crossing facilities on Mount Wellington Highway, signalised to improve safety.
- Installation of speed bumps on Meadow Street and Church Street (to Church Street/Princes Street intersection), to slow cars down and make it safer for people to walk and cycle.
- Traffic-calming speed tables installed on side road intersections along Meadow Street.
- A new shared walking and cycling path on the eastern side of Church Street, between Princes Street and Avenue Road.
- An upgrade to the footbridge linking Meadow Street and Church Street, to make it wide enough for pedestrians and cyclists to share the bridge.
- Improved street lighting on Church Street, Meadow Street, and the connecting footbridge.
- A raised speed table on the Church Street/Luke Street intersection to slow traffic and improve safety. Priority at this intersection is to be given to vehicles (including bikes) travelling along Church Street.
- Avenue Road/Church Street roundabout to be rebuilt with speed tables and pedestrian crossings to reduce the risk of crashes and allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross safely.
Design images
Image: Mount Wellington Highway, looking north toward Sylvia Park, showing the new shared path.
Image: Church Street, looking north toward Sylvia Park, showing speed bumps.
Avenue Road walking and cycling options (on hold awaiting further planning and consultation)
On Avenue Road, between the Avenue Road/Church Street intersection and the Avenue Road/Atkinson Avenue intersection, we’ve identified 2 options for walking and cycling facilities, and we’d like your help with choosing the best one.
Following public consultation we have decided to leave this section as it is currently, as further planning and consultation is needed to determine the best connection into the Ōtāhuhu town centre for people on bikes.
Option 1: Protected cycleways on both the northern and southern sides of the road.
Positives: This option provides full protection for people on bikes, by providing continuous physical separation from pedestrians and cars. It’s safe and appealing, especially to those who are not confident about cycling.
Negatives: This option will require all the parking spaces on the northern side of Avenue Road (outside the shops) to be removed.
Image: Avenue Road Option 1 - separated cycleways
Option 2: Shared path and protected cycleways
Option 2 provides a shared path in front of the shops, a protected cycleway along the residential section on the northern side of the road, and a protected cycleway on southern side of the road.
Positives: This option only removes half of the parking spaces on the northern side of Avenue Road (outside the shops), and provides protection for people on bikes through physical separation from pedestrians and cars for a portion of the route.
Negatives: The chances of collisions between pedestrians and people on bikes are greater on a shared path than on a separated cycleway, meaning this option is not as safe and appealing, especially for those who are not confident about cycling.
Image: Avenue Road Option 2 - shared path & separated cycleway.
Transit lanes
We plan to install new T2 transit lanes for buses, trucks and cars on both sides of Mount Wellington Highway, from Ryburn Road to Camp Road.
These T2 transit lanes are being installed to improve the reliability of journey times for public transport and high capacity vehicles. This section of Mount Wellington Highway currently has only a single lane of traffic in each direction and these new transit lanes will be in addition to the existing lanes.
Image: Mount Wellington Highway, looking north toward Sylvia Park, showing the new T2 transit lanes.
Changes to on-street parking
We propose to remove approximately half of the on-street carparks from Avenue Road, Church Street, and Meadow Street.
Parking surveys show that while Avenue Road has high parking occupancy during the week, due to the high turnover of visitors to the shops, parking on Church Street and Meadow Street is usually at less than 40% occupancy during the week. There is also a public car park on King Street, and parking available adjacent to Church Street.
Most properties along the route also have off-street parking, so we do not expect residents to be significantly affected.
We understand that on-street parking is important, and have taken care to remove as little parking as possible.
Changes to street trees
This project proposes to remove approximately six trees from Mount Wellington Highway and a single tree on Church Street.
We’re making sure to keep as many healthy trees as possible, and have consulted extensively with arborists and Auckland Council Parks. While we are removing some trees, overall the number of trees in the area will remain the same, due to the new ones we will be planting. We’ll provide new native planting wherever possible, including in new grass verges, in kerb build-outs, in gardens on Church Street, in local parks, on side roads and in any other available locations along the route.
Detailed design plans
Download the Mount Wellington Highway improvements plan (PDF 3.49MB, 5 pages)
Download the Meadow Street and Church Street improvements plan (PDF 5.33MB, 8 pages)
Outside scope of the project
Park and ride near Ōtāhuhu Station
Our mission is to provide better transport options for all Aucklanders, and transport hubs like Ōtāhuhu Station are at the heart of this transformation.
In October, we consulted on the Ōtāhuhu Town Centre Upgrade project, which aims to revitalise the Ōtāhuhu Town Centre and make it easier to get to and from the Ōtāhuhu Station by foot, bike or bus.
Any further improvements to the station will be a separate AT project.
Old Ōtāhuhu Bus Station site
We are working with Auckland Council to make the most of the former Ōtāhuhu Bus Station site between Avenue Road and King Street.
At this stage, we do not have plans for this land.
Consideration will be given to the needs of the community, and how this location can support the growth of Ōtāhuhu. Development of this site will be a separate Auckland Council project.
Public feedback report
Between 30 October and 26 November 2017, Auckland Transport (AT) sought feedback on new bus, walking and cycling facilities on Mount Wellington Highway, Meadow Street, Church Street, and Avenue Road in Ōtāhuhu. These upgrades will improve travel times and reliability for public transport users along the route, and provide people with more transport options.
In total, we received 81 submissions, which we’ve analysed and closely considered. We appreciate your time and effort taken to provide sincere feedback.
We have produced a public feedback report outlining the analysis of the feedback received as well as our responses to the feedback. The full report is available below.
Southern Connections feedback report (PDF 1MB, 31 pages).
Changes to proposal
Following this feedback, we have made the following changes to the Southern Connections Stage 2 proposal:
- A shared walking and cycling path is to be provided on Church Street instead of separated cycle lanes on each side of the road.
- Implementation of the proposed cycleway on Avenue Road has been postponed, as further planning and consultation is needed to determine the best connection into the Ōtāhuhu town centre for people on bikes.
- The section of shared path on Mount Wellington Highway between the Panama Road intersection and the Mount Wellington Highway/Clemow Drive/Monahan Road/Vestey Drive roundabout will be delivered as part of a separate project.
- The southbound traffic lane on Church Street will be narrowed from 5.9m to 4.2m, through use of a flush median;
- Side islands with low level planting will be added to all the speed humps along Church Street and Meadow Street;
- Lowered kerbs to allow pedestrians to cross will be added on Church Street near the Luke Street/Church Street intersection, to allow east-west pedestrian movement;
- The existing speed hump on Luke Street, near to the Luke Street/Church Street intersection will be removed;
- The footpath outside the dairy on Mount Wellington Highway, near the Mount Wellington Highway/Meadow Street intersection, will be widened;
- The narrow, broken footpath on the western side of Mount Wellington Highway, near the Mount Wellington Highway/Meadow Street intersection, will be upgraded;
- Existing parking bays on the western side of Mount Wellington Highway, near the Mount Wellington Highway/Hillside Road intersection, will be upgraded;
- A 0.9m grass verge will be provided on the eastern side of Mount Wellington Highway, between Hillside Road and Ryburn Road, to provide additional separation between pedestrians and people on bikes, and traffic;
- To accommodate the kauri trees on the eastern side of Mount Wellington Highway, the front verge will be removed, and the path will instead curve around the trees; and
- We are retaining as much of the hedges as possible by the Mount Wellington Highway/Clemow Drive/Monahan Road/Vestey Drive roundabout.
As we received limited feedback from people who would be directly affected by the proposed developments on Avenue Road (residents and business owners), we have decided to leave this section and roundabout as it is currently. We will take more time to engage with local business owners and residents, and use their insights to determine an approach that makes this space work well for everyone.
Next steps
Plans have been updated to show the results of feedback listed above, and are available further above.
Construction on Church Street and Meadow Street is expected to begin in July 2019. Construction on Mount Wellington Highway is expected to begin in late 2019 or early 2020.
As decisions are made and designs progress, updates will be made on this webpage.