Quay Street Cycleway extension Quay Street Cycleway extension
We are building an extension to Quay Street Cycleway along Quay Street and Tamaki Drive.
- Get details of the cycleway extension.
- Read about the history of the initial Quay Street Cycleway project.
Project status: Completed.
Project zone: Central.
Project overview
We extended the Quay Street Cycleway (one of Auckland’s most popular) from the intersection with Plumer Street to just before The Strand.
The cycleway connects with the future Tamaki Drive cycleway and provides a vital connection to the Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive shared path.
Quay Street is a connection to Auckland’s city centre, shared by pedestrians, trucks, buses, cars, and bikes. The cycleway extension complements the different users of the street, keeping Quay Street moving and enabling people to bike in safety.
Construction to build the extension started early January 2018.
Image: Quay Street Cycleway extension route map.
Benefits
- Designed for people of all ages and abilities.
- Interim step towards the long-term transformation of Quay Street and the water’s edge.
- Connects with the ferry terminal and with cycle routes along Nelson Street, Beach Road, and Auckland’s waterfront.
- Makes Quay Street a more pleasant walking experience, by shifting bikes onto the cycleway.
- Helps create a city centre in which people feel safer and more confident walking and cycling.
- Along with improvements to bus and train services, provides more travel options into the city, particularly during construction of the City Rail Link (CRL).
- Helps achieve our target of a 30% increase in cycle journeys within Auckland by 2019.
- Improves travel options around the city for local residents, now one of the most densely populated parts of the country.
- Supports the social benefits of cycling: improvements to health, a reduction in household costs, a cleaner environment.
Timeline
- July 2016 - Quay Street Cycleway completed.
- January 2018 - Construction of cycleway extension begins.
- Mid 2018 - Cycleway extension complete (expected).
Funding
Creating a connected network of cycle routes across the city is a priority for AT, Auckland Council and the NZ Transport Agency. The three organisations are working together on a three year $200 million programme of investment in cycling to make it safer and more convenient to travel by bike.
Project details
People who ride on Quay Street either ride on a busy shared path with pedestrians or ride in the general traffic lanes, mixing with a large number of vehicles moving fast and in close proximity.
We know that many more Aucklanders would go by bike if they felt safer and didn’t have the stress of driving with fast, heavy traffic.
- The project route is approximately 1km long from the intersection with Plumer Street to just before The Strand.
- Bikes will be separated from traffic by concrete islands, similar to those already being used on Quay Street.
- The cycleway will be “2-way” on one side of the road, allowing travel in both directions within it and keeping with the rest of the route. This requires less space than a single direction lane on both sides of the road because only one set of raised islands is needed and provides consistency for the users.
Road and path changes
- Road layout - Moving traffic lanes and narrowing the centre (median) island in the centre of the road to create room for the cycleway.
- Associated civil construction work for drainage and street light upgrade.
- Relocating trees:
- As a result of narrowing the median island in the centre of the road, we will be relocating fourteen Pohutukawa trees as the median will become too narrow to support them.
- One additional tree will also be relocated from the berm, between the existing shared path and the new cycleway. It will make way for the upgraded bus stop east of Plumer St.
- The trees will be replanted within the city centre, the first two trees have been replanted in Teal Park to thrive and improve the park.
- While some trees are able to be replanted straight away, others will be replanted in several months and cared for during the construction process. There is an after-care programme in place, we will look after and maintain the relocated trees for 36 months after replanting.
- Bus stops:
- Upgrading the outbound bus stop east of Plumer Street.
- Minor alterations to the outbound bus stop west of The Strand to ensure passenger safety waiting for and getting on and off buses.
Construction
Construction work will start in early January 2018 and the work staged to minimise impacts. Weather permitting, all stages will be completed in six months.
During construction, we will maintain all existing movement and access to shops, side streets and businesses along Quay St. Access in and out of Plumer St will also be maintained. A safe path will also be provided for pedestrians and cyclists to use at all times.
As a live construction site, the speed limit will be reduced to 30kmph and traffic delays can be expected.
Download the final design for the Quay Street cycleway extension (PDF 4.35MB, 5 pages).
Public engagement and design
In late 2016, we engaged with the public, local residents, businesses and property owners.
Engagement activities included:
- Door knocking of local businesses directly adjacent to the route.
- 1,046 project information letters mailed to all property owners in the project area. Hand delivery of approximately 1,500 letters to the same area.
- Media release which resulted in stories by Paperboy publication and discussion on the Transport Blog and Bike Auckland websites.
- AT website and social media.
Out of those engaged in 2016, two responses were received. One was from Bike Auckland in support of the project and provided feedback on the design. Another feedback received related to the proposed removal of trees, opposed by the submitter.
In May 2017, the proposal to construct the cycleway including the relocation of 15 Pohutukawa trees was publicly notified. Twelve submissions were received, with seven in support and five in opposition.
Resource consent was granted by the Independent Commissioners in September 2017, following a hearing process with conditions that address the relocation and transplanting of trees and various concerns raised by submitters.
- Download the final decision for resource consent for the Quay Street cycleway extension (PDF 126KB).
- Download the decision on notification for resource consent for the Quay Street cycleway extension (PDF 126KB).
- Download the final design for the Quay Street cycleway extension (PDF 4.35MB, 5 pages).
Cycle network connections
We are prioritising our cycling investment around the region to join up our network and be better connected. High quality cycleways that form a connected network maximise the investment in cycling as they attract the most users and have the most impact on congestion.
The Quay Street Cycleway extension will connect:
- with the existing shared path along Quay Street and Tamaki Drive when heading East. Eventually connecting to the future Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive shared path.
- with the Beach Road cycleway via Tapora Street and Mahuhu Crescent (when travelling from The Strand end of the Quay Street Cycleway extension). From there to the Grafton Gully and Northwestern cycleways.
- with the Nelson Street cycleway when heading west.
Read about cycling being a transport choice for Aucklanders.
Image: Two-way direction for bikes and raised concrete kerbs in keeping with the rest of the route.
Project history
The Quay Street Cycleway is a 2-way cycleway, allowing travel in both directions within it. Parts of the cycleway sit on-road and other sections use the footpath.
The cycleway opened in July 2016 and has clocked more than 200,000 cycle trips since. The route is attracting a large number of commuters from the east and west as well as people cycling for recreation.
Since it opened, the proportion of people cycling on the footpath has decreased from 47% to 3%, creating a much more pleasant space for pedestrians. The proportion of people cycling on the road decreased from 53% to 33%.
From the intersection of Quay Street and Lower Hobson Street, currently the cycleway extends for around 1 kilometre on the northern side of Quay Street, to the intersection with Plumer Street.
More transport choices for Aucklanders
Transport modes such as cycling, walking and public transport can move more people within the same space as a traffic lane, and are often more cost effective to construct and maintain. By making these modes efficient, safe and appealing, we are giving people a viable alternative to the car, and over time increase the number of people using these modes.
Providing safe, separated cycle facilities on Quay Street aligns with a number of national and regional plans and programmes including:
- the Urban Cycleways Programme.
- the Auckland Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2015 to 2025, which identifies the Quay Street Cycleway as one of the priority projects for the next 3 years.
View the city centre cycleway map (PDF 3.42MB)