Glenvar Ridge Road Glenvar Ridge Road
Glenvar Ridge Road is a new road that will connect the existing transport network with the urban development in Long Bay.
Project status: Construction
Project zone: North
Project overview
Glenvar Ridge Road will extend from opposite the Long Bay Baptist Church in Glenvar Road to the western boundary of the lower Long Bay development site. The new road will:
- Draw traffic generated by the area away from existing routes.
- Provide good links to main arterial routes like East Coast Road and Oteha Valley Road.
- Provide a direct route to Long Bay Regional Park.
- A shared path for cyclists and pedestrians.
Benefits
- A quick and reliable route into and out of the Long Bay area.
- Diverts Ashley Avenue through-traffic away from primary and secondary schools, resulting in a safer environment for all users.
- Helps reduce congestion along Beach Road and at Torbay Village during summer peak periods when regional park visitor numbers are highest.
- Provides flexibility in the event of a temporary closure of any of the other Long Bay access routes.
- Gives existing land-locked properties direct road access, instead of residents having to access their land via a neighbouring property.
Milestones
- October 2013 - Initial consultation phase.
- October/November 2013: Site investigations.
- End of February 2014: Preliminary design completed.
- March/April 2014 to October 2016: Land acquisition.
- October 2014 to August 2015: Designation and consents.
- August 2015 to early-mid 2016: Pre-construction site works.
- January 2016: Contract awarded.
- February 2018: All land acquisition completed.
- February 2016 to mid-late 2018: Main construction.
Funding
Auckland Transport (AT) and Long Bay Communities Ltd have an agreement to build the new road. The agreement makes it possible to build the road by 2018 – 7 years earlier than would have been possible by ratepayer funding alone. Sharing the cost will save ratepayers an estimated $7.5 million over the next 2 decades.
The collaboration is also an opportunity for surplus road construction material to be deposited at Todd Property Group’s adjacent development site instead of trucking it to a commercial tip. This will remove an estimated 15,000 or more truck movements from Auckland roads.
Project details
Consent process
A Notice of Requirement (NoR) was lodged with Auckland Council in October 2014 which included a detailed description of the proposed road, the potential impacts of construction and operation of the road, and how we propose to manage those impacts.
Auckland Council publically notified the NoR in late 2014 and outlined how submissions could be made in support or opposition to the proposal or to raise any concerns. One submission was received and a hearing held in March 2015 to deal with issues raised.
Following this, Council notified submitters of its decision to approve the designation of the new road and no appeals were received.
Land acquisition
Glenvar Ridge Road is a greenfields road. The route traverses 13 residential properties in private ownership and land owned by the Ministry of Education.
A new roundabout will connect Glenvar Ridge Road (opposite Long Bay Baptist Church) at its upper end to Glenvar Road. During construction of this connection there will be some disruption to traffic using Glenvar Road, but this will be managed. Separate discussions were held with affected land-owners.
Project background
The route
The need to build a new road to Long Bay was originally identified by the former North Shore City Council in the early 2000s. The council investigated 2 possible routes: one via the valley and one via the ridgeline. Following extensive public consultation, the ridgeline was selected as the preferred route for a new access road, which was then referred to as Glenvar Ridge Road.
The proposed Glenvar Ridge Road was then endorsed by the Environment Court and included in the Auckland District Plan in 2011.
AT has designated and acquired the necessary land. Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan provides funding for this purpose. This gives AT certainty that it can build the road and provides affected landowners certainty over where the route will go.
In terms of the main road network in the Structure Plan area, no party to the appeals opposed Glenvar Ridge Road. On the contrary, there was strong support for it from the main landowner and the Ministry of Education (and both the Long Bay Schools).
Community engagement involves affected property owners/occupiers, the local community, iwi, local schools and the MoE, Local Board, and special interest groups.
History of Long bay
Auckland Transport commissioned an archaeologist consultant to provide specialist information regarding archaeological and heritage issues for the proposed Glenvar Ridge Road from Glenvar Road to 69 Ashley Avenue and associated works in Ministry of Education land.
Read a long history of Long Bay (PDF 5.8MB, 7 pages)