October 2, 2006

Onewa Rd transit lane to be extended

North Shore City Council has revealed plans to extend the Onewa Rd transit lane down to Sylvan Ave, allowing buses and car poolers to quickly bypass other traffic in the morning peak.

"This project was originally proposed in 2002, and public consultation at the time showed general support for it," North Shore City's transport development manager, Kit O'Halloran, says.

"We are now ready to go ahead with extending the transit lane, to link in with the Onewa Rd interchange upgrade and Northern Busway, both being built by Transit New Zealand.

"When this project is finished, buses will be able to move quickly down Onewa Rd to a bus-only lane on the interchange," Mr O'Halloran says.

"Onewa Rd is one of the city's busiest roads in the morning peak, and by extending the transit lane we want to encourage more people to catch the bus or car pool, so we can move more people instead of more cars."

The project will include adding transit lanes on the Lake Rd and Queen St approaches to Onewa Rd, and some widening on Onewa Rd, including the bridge over Onepoto Stream, to accommodate four lanes of traffic.

The first stage of improvements for Onewa Rd will be a pedestrian/cycle path over the Onepoto Stream to Sylvan Ave, due to begin this summer.

For more information on the extension of the Onewa Rd transit lane, go to www.northshorecity.govt.nz

ENDS

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