Mt Wellington Highway bus/truck lane improvements Mt Wellington Highway bus/truck lane improvements
Auckland Transport (AT) decided to proceed with the changes that were proposed for Mt Wellington Highway in Mt Wellington. The changes are located on Mt Wellington Highway between Roslyn Road and Longford Street.
Project status: Detailed design
Project zone: Central
Project overview
Buses (and trucks) are experiencing significant delays along Mt Wellington Highway. We are introducing changes to Mt Wellington Highway in Mt Wellington to help improve travel times for all vehicles. The changes are located on Mt Wellington Highway between Roslyn Road and Longford Street, and include:
- a southbound bus/truck lane operating 24hours seven days a week (buses, heavy vehicles over 3,500kg, bicycles and motorbikes will be permitted to use the lane)
- narrowing of the painted central median
- kerb and footpath realignments on the west side of the road
- a new signalised pedestrian crossing and associated kerb widening
- upgrading the pram crossings at Longford Street
- a new bus stop, bus stop and shelter relocation and bus stop improvements
- some removal of on-street parking (please note: no vehicles have been observed using the parking).
Benefits
- Reduced travel times and improved travel time reliability for buses and trucks.
- Buses becoming a more attractive travel option with faster travel times and better reliability.
- New signalised pedestrian crossing will improve connectivity between bus stops and provide another safe crossing point for pedestrians.
- Regrading of existing pram crossings will improve accessibility for mobility scooters and wheelchairs.
- New bus stop will reduce the distance between bus stops improving connectivity.
Project details
Bus/truck lane location
The bus/truck lane will be about 300m long and run from 226 to 270 Mt Wellington Highway (start just after Roslyn Road and finish just before Longford Street). Buses, heavy vehicles over 3,500kg, bicycles and motorbikes will legally be permitted to use the lane.
Making space for the bus/truck lane
The space for the bus/truck lane will be achieved by narrowing the painted central median, removing on-street parking and small areas of road widening (kerb realignments).
- The painted median will be narrowed from around 2.5 metres to 5 metres to around 0 metres to 2.5 metres (depending on the location).
- Kerb realignment on the west side of the road is required to retain a right turn bay for traffic turning into Hamlin Road. The kerb realignment will be about 100 metres long, it will start at Hamlin Road and head in a northbound direction. The kerb realignment will also require the realignment of the footpath in this location and necessitates regrading driveways at 239 Mt Wellington Highway and 1A Hamlin Road.
- Removing on-street parking consists of installing 200 metres of broken yellow lines (No Stopping At Any Time (NSAAT)) on the east side of the road and 80 metres of broken yellow lines (NSAAT) on the west side of the road. The new NSAAT markings will remove approximately 33 parking spaces.
Parking Removal
On-street parking removal is required to make space for the bus/truck lane, make it easier for buses to pull up to and exit from bus stops and to improve visibility at the new pedestrian crossing and the Hamlin Road intersection. No vehicles were observed using the on-street parking during the following parking observations:
- Weekdays, 7am to 9am, midday, 4pm to 6pm and after 7pm.
- Saturday at midday and 8pm.
Other changes
A new signalised pedestrian crossing and associated kerb widening
The new signalised pedestrian crossing will be located outside 236 Mt Wellington Highway. It will improve connectivity between bus stops and provide another safe crossing point for pedestrians.
New pram crossings at Longford Street
The existing pram crossings are too steep. They will be regraded to improve accessibility for mobility scooters and wheelchairs.
New bus stop, bus stop and shelter relocation and bus stop improvements
- The proposed new bus stop outside 240/242 Mt Wellington Highway to the bus stops at 190 Mt Wellington Highway and 234 Penrose Road to around 420 metres - 700 metres, down from around 630 metres - 840 metres (Auckland Transport’s standard is 400 metre separation). The location of the bus stop also ensures connectivity with the bus stop across the road and aligns with Hamlin Road for pedestrians coming from that direction.
- Relocate bus stop/shelter from 259 Mt Wellington Highway (just south of Hamlin Road) to outside 239 Mt Wellington Highway. This will improve vehicle safety because when buses use the current bus stop, they can obstruct views of oncoming traffic for vehicles exiting Hamlin Road. The new location also aligns better with the new bus stop across the road.
- Realign the bus stop outside 270 Mt Wellington Highway to make it easier for buses to pull up to the kerb.
Download the detailed designs for the Mt Wellington Highway bus/truck lane improvements (PDF 3.6MB).
Public engagement
We sought public feedback on the project between 28 October and 17 November 2019.
Public feedback
After considering the public feedback we have decided to progress the project through to implementation, subject to the following changes:
- Modify the lane markings at the start of the bus lane to guide motorists away from the bus lane and into the general traffic lane (i.e. discourage corner cutting).
- Where there is space, widen the footpath on the eastern side of the road.
Next steps
Auckland Transport will be in touch with residents and local businesses once we have confirmed the construction timeline. It is anticipated that construction of these changes will take place around early 2021 and take between four and six weeks to complete.
We will work closely with the community to mitigate disruption as much as possible and ensure advance notice is provided.