City Roading Projects Speed Up Buses
NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE USE
City roading projects speed up buses
April 17, 2003
The North Shore City Council is redesigning a key access route to the northern motorway and harbour bridge to reduce
holdups for buses.
The intersection of Taharoto Rd where it provides access to Northcote Rd in the morning peak is to be widened to create
an exclusive lane for buses turning right into Northcote Rd.
Work is expected to start this month, to be finished in June, at a cost of $98,000.
Joel Cayford, chairperson of North Shore City works and environment committee, says the change will help ease the
Taharoto Rd bus bottleneck, which builds up regularly - and no land acquisition is needed to make the change.
"The change will be a short-term measure until the opening of the Westlake Bus Station, when buses will access the new
busway via the Westlake Bus Station off an extension of Shakespeare Rd," Councillor Cayford says.
He outlined a number of other bus improvement projects around the city. "While most are small projects, they are
important incremental steps in the city's overall plan to make bus travel faster, more convenient and often cheaper than
private car travel.
"Already the bus priority lanes on Onewa Rd and Esmonde Rd have cut many minutes off bus travel times, and have even
reduced travel times for private vehicles in some cases," he says.
The intersection improvements are just one of many currently being undertaken by North Shore City Council to improve
traffic flows, and in particular to speed the progress of buses around the city by providing a number of bus priority
measures.
Others given the go-ahead by the council were:
* An extension to the existing Esmonde Rd bus lane, which will help cut travel time down the road and onto the
motorway and harbour bridge. Work should be completed in May.
* The entire route from the southern end of Forrest Hill Rd and including Wairau Rd and Taharoto Rd, which is the
subject of an extensive investigation for upgrading and widening, and will include provision for exclusive bus lanes. It
will account for the needs of Westlake Girls High School, industries in the area, as well as cyclists and buses.
Services will need to be re-located, and work should start in the next financial year.
* A section of northbound bus priority lane on Forrest Hill Rd from Manutara Ave to the intersection with East
Coast Rd. The part of the road affected has been sealed and road marking should start shortly.
* Provision of a morning peak (southbound) bus only lane on Forrest Hill Rd between Currey Cres and Nile Rd.
Detailed design work is to be completed.
* A bus lane through the intersection of Northcote Rd and Ocean View Rd to allow quicker access to Northcote Rd.
The work should be finished by end of July 2003.
* An additional lane for all traffic turning left out of Roberts Rd into Glenfield Rd will particularly benefit
buses, currently held up by right turning traffic.
The council has also approved the advertising of a tender to design the five stations for the North Shore Busway, and to
undertake the landscape design. The total cost of the stations will be approximately $20m, and are a vital part of the
citywide improvements planned for public passenger transport in the city, says Joel Cayford.
He says a number of other projects to provide bus priority measures are planned for the next financial year, (2003/04,
starting July 1, 2003).