Auckland traffic: Auckland Transport admits cycleway project is running late

Victoria St reduced to one lane each way because of road works, causing major congestion. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The $5.3 million Victoria St cycleway that is part of roadworks reducing the city centre to a standstill is running late.

Auckland Transport yesterday admitted it had failed to meet the deadline to complete the first, most disruptive stage of the cycleway by the end of February.

Automobile Association spokesman Barney Irvine said any significant delay would tip a lot of people over the edge.

"If there are delays, we just hope that they're kept to an absolute minimum, and that AT and council make up for them by managing the works much more effectively in other parts of the CBD," he said.

The news came on the same day Orakei councillor Desley Simpson warned AT there would be "hell to pay" if traffic was disrupted on a $14.4 million cycleway project about to begin on Tamaki Drive.

Simpson said she had an assurance from AT that traffic would flow normally at peak hours by operating two lanes into the city during the morning peak and two lanes to the east during the evening peak. Outside peak times, single lanes will operate.

There is no date for the completion of the cycleway on the Victoria Park Market side of the road. Image / Auckland Transport

Traffic chaos is choking the central city. Nearly 40 road closures relating to roadworks over summer are causing headaches for motorists and public transport users.

The Victoria St cycleway and long-running roadworks on Quay St are the two of the most visible disruptions, earning Auckland the nickname "City of Cones".

AT spokesman Mark Hannan said by the end of this month, 80 per cent of the physical works would be completed on the Victoria St cycleway, including almost all the work on the Victoria Park side of the road.

He said work on the Victoria Park Market side of the road would happen after February, but did not give a date for completion. AT was still aiming to have all three stages of the project done by the middle of the year, he said.

Hannan said AT was on schedule to re-open the road lanes on Victoria St West by March 1 when the Wellesley St intersection with Albert St and Mayoral Drive is closed.

The closure of the major intersection for the best part of a year is for work to begin on a new underground rail station as part of the $4.4 billion City Rail Link.

The plan is to divert a lot of traffic from Wellesley St to Victoria St.