Newmarket access improvements Newmarket access improvements
Auckland Transport (AT) is making some changes to how you will get to and through Newmarket by bus, car and, when you are there, on foot.
Project status: Consultation - feedback closed 14 May 2020
Project zone: Central
Project overview
The number of people visiting Newmarket is expected to increase significantly because of retail developments in the area. As a result, Auckland Transport is making some changes to how you will get to and through Newmarket by bus and car. We’re also making improvements to your experience of being there on foot.
Some of these changes are trials, some are temporary and some permanent. Below, you will find more detail about these changes. Together, they will make getting to, through and around Newmarket as safe and easy as possible.
Map showing the Newmarket access improvement details.
Benefits
- Helping to keep buses running on time, and encouraging people to consider car-pooling/public transport, to get more cars off the road.
- Improving pedestrian safety at the crossing to Teed Street from the Newmarket Station exit onto Broadway.
- Ensuring we can better monitor traffic movements so that we can better respond to traffic conditions.
- Being better able to inform people about traffic conditions in and around Newmarket.
- Helping people find and access public transport.
- Improving the intersections of Broadway and Remuera Road and Remuera Road & Nuffield Street.
Timeline
- Six-month bus and transit lane trials start – 14 November 2019.
- Temporary change to the crossing to Teed Street – from late 2019.
- Installing additional CCTV and electronic signage – from late 2019.
- Installing improved signage around Newmarket and Newmarket Station – from early to mid-November 2019.
- Improving the crossing at Remuera Road and Broadway – early November 2019.
- Improving the crossing at Remuera Road and Nuffield Street – early November 2019.
- Feedback closed on bus and transit lane trial – 14 May 2020.
Project details
Auckland Transport is making some changes to how you will get to and through Newmarket by bus, car and, when you are there, on foot.
Some of these changes are trials, some are temporary and some permanent.
Trial changes:
- Trial changes to bus lane and transit lane operating hours, including consultation.
Temporary changes:
- Temporary changes to make the crossing from the Broadway exit from Newmarket Station to Teed Street safer for pedestrians have been completed. Planter boxes on the traffic island in the middle of Broadway now make this a safer place wait while crossing the road. This may lead to permanent changes.
- Two temporary scooter-drop parklets, also marked out with planter boxes, have been installed on the Teed Street side of Broadway. These will be removed by the end of June 2020.
- The temporary activation of Nuffield Street during November and December weekends has finished.
- A marketing campaign to encourage people to travel to Newmarket by public transport is finished.
Permanent:
- Improvements to the Newmarket Station entrance from Remuera Road, such as improved lighting, have been completed.
- Improvements to the crossing at the intersection of Remuera and Broadway have been completed.
- Tactile markers have been put in place to make this location safer for the vision impaired to cross.
- Maintenance to the wall on the south-eastern side has been finished.
- The sculpture, ‘The World Gasped’, has been removed to provide more space for people to cross. The sculpture is currently in storage awaiting reinstallation by Auckland Council in a different Newmarket location. This should happen by the end of April 2020.
- Signage to help people find their way around Newmarket, and locate public transport, will be completed by the end of April 2020.
- The improvements at the Remuera Road and Nuffield Street intersection is on hold due to the presence of some underground services and the proximity of a retaining wall near the station entrance on Remuera Road. A decision on whether to proceed with this improvement is pending.
- A range of improvements to help manage traffic better were proposed:
- All traffic monitoring CCTV cameras have been installed.
- The installation of Variable Message Signage to advise motorists of traffic conditions in Newmarket is in progress. Consultation with affected property owners, the Newmarket Business Association and the Local Board is to come.
- Changing the left-hand lane at the intersection of Khyber Pass Road and Crowhurst Street to a left-turn only lane has been cancelled.
The number of people visiting Newmarket is expected to increase significantly because of retail developments in the area. Together, these changes will make getting to and through Newmarket by bus, car and as a pedestrian as safe and easy as possible.
Trials: extending bus and transit lane operating hours
Several buses travel through Newmarket, including 30, 70, 75, 295, 309, 751, 781, 866, the Inner Link and the Outer Link. Transit lanes around Newmarket are for vehicles carrying three or more people, as well as for passenger service vehicles, bicycles, motorbikes and mopeds.
Making sure that our buses and transit lanes get people where they want to go, as quickly as possible, is important for encouraging people to use our public transport services and to think about car-pooling.
The trials started on 14 November 2019 and ran for six months.
| Transit lanes (T3) | Bus lanes | |
| Situation |
|
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| During the trial | Extending the T3 operating hours, on the above roads:
|
Extending the bus lane operating hours on these roads
|
Temporary: pedestrian safety improvements
Local people and businesses have told us that the Broadway crossing to Teed Street from the exit of Newmarket Station does not feel safe.
To address these concerns, we will be putting in some temporary measures, as soon as possible, to make sure pedestrians have a good view of the road and to make the crossing more obvious to drivers. To improve sight lines for pedestrians we will need to remove a small amount of parking on Broadway.
In the longer term, we will explore installing a signalised crossing here.
Permanent
The permanent improvements we are making are:
Traffic management improvements
- Changing the left-hand lane at the intersection of Khyber Pass and Crowhurst Street to left-turn only. Buses may still proceed straight ahead.
- Increasing the number of CCTV cameras to better manage traffic. One camera will monitor the crossing over Broadway to Teed Street.
- Increasing the number of Variable Message Signs (electronic signs) so that people travelling to or through Newmarket have a better idea of what the traffic is like.
Finding public transport and accessing it:
- Improving signage to make finding Newmarket Station and bus stops easier.
- Improving access to the train station.
The crossing from Newmarket Station to Nuffield Street:
- Realigning the crossing to make it more direct.
The intersection of Broadway and Remuera Road:
- We are moving the sculpture on the western side of Broadway to provide more space on the footpath for pedestrians crossing at this location.
- The sculpture will be relocated to Olympic Park, on the corner of Broadway and Davis Crescent.
- Tactile markers will be upgraded to make the crossing safer for the vision impaired.
The wall on the south-east side of the crossing will receive some maintenance.
Encouraging people on foot to use Nuffield Street to access the mall on busy days
Broadway is going to be busy. By encouraging people on foot to use multiple routes to get around Newmarket, no single area will experience too much congestion.
- Temporary changes will be made to Nuffield Street on busy days to encourage more pedestrians to use this route.
- Changes will be made in partnership with local businesses and the Newmarket Business Association.
These may include events, such as pocket parks and street music.
Encouraging people to use public transport:
- We are undertaking a comprehensive marketing campaign to encourage people to use public transport when they choose to go to Newmarket, now and into the future.
Public engagement
We want to ensure these changes make access to and through Newmarket safe and easy.
Feedback for this consultation closed 14 May 2020.
We will consider the feedback alongside the monitoring we have done on the impact of the trial on congestion and bus journey times.