The Access for Everyone strategy involves pedestrianising Queen St. Photo / File
Plans to turn central Auckland into a car-free zone will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and require one in four motorists to switch to public transport, says Auckland Transport.
AT supports a council strategy called Access for Everyone, which aims to pedestrianise the inner city over the next 10 years by closing streets to all but essential vehicles.
But an initial analysis by AT of the strategy has provided a reality check for councillors, including an estimated $420 million for two roading projects, getting 11,000 motorists onto public transport and keeping the city open for business.
READ MORE:
• Road taxes, road rage, traffic congestion: How does Auckland compare?
• March Madness: Bus drivers stop work, 37 Auckland services affected, motorway congestion grows
• Auckland's gridlock nightmare holding steady but will get a lot worse, says Automobile Association
• Auckland traffic woes second-worst in Australasia - only Sydney fares worse
In November 2018, councillors voted unanimously to adopt Access for Everyone, designed to remove cars from the central city and create eight "cells" around the Queen St valley where cars can come and go from, but not enter another cell.
Restrictions will not apply to delivery and business vehicles like taxis.
The idea is the central city will become a place to come to, not to go through, leaving the motorway and Mayoral Drive as the only routes for cars to cross the city.
Other cross-town routes will effectively be closed to cars. Quay St is being reduced to two lanes and Customs St will be restricted to buses.
In a memo to councillors, AT said the city centre has experienced significant growth in jobs, residents and entertainment over recent years with the number of people coming into the city during the morning peak increasing from 60,000 in 2001 to nearly 80,000 in 2018.
By 2028, the figure is expected to reach 105,000 when there will be at least 500,000 walking trips a day.
This highlighted the importance of having sufficient space and infrastructure for people, regardless of how they arrive in the city centre, the memo said.
AT pointed out that despite all the investment and more attractive transport options since 2001, the number of people travelling by cars to and from the city in peak periods has remained fairly constant at about 40,000. The growth in travel has been accommodated by extra trips on public transport, walking and cycling.
For the strategy to work, AT said, it would require 11,000 of the 40,000 people who come into the central city by car to move to public transport, cycling or walking to avoid gridlock.
These numbers are on top of the extra 30,000 people already expected to use public transport to and from the central city over the next decade.
AT said SH16 needs to be widened along Stanley St and The Strand at an estimated cost of $270m and on and off ramps built to connect Grafton Gully to the motorway costing an estimated $150m.
These two projects will allow traffic from the east to cross the city to the west, and vice versa, without having to drive through the city. It is also an important corridor for port traffic.
AT said "substantial new investment" will be needed in bus infrastructure, which is likely to conflict with public space plans.
Mayor Phil Goff, who called Access for Everyone an "absolutely necessity" in 2018, said he remains 100 per cent in support of the vision and how it aligns with investments to deliver world class public transport.
He said a staged trial to take out carparks and widen the footpath in High St with input from those affected was effective.
"We will take the time needed to carry people with us on the more substantial changes that are being proposed," Goff said.
The mayor flagged more disruption but said failure to act would lead to permanent disruption as footpaths and bus lanes became clogged and the city would grind to a halt.
Planning committee chairman Chris Darby said AT had presented councillors with challenges, not barriers to implement Access for Everyone in a complex environment that is the city centre, climate change and shifting people out of cars.
"We are not saying we are going to dive straight into this, even though I have got people knocking on the door saying turn this out tomorrow," said Darby, saying there are legal responsibilities and access requirements for freight and servicing.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said Access for Everyone is an exciting concept to make the city more people-friendly, but it also had to ensure people who need to come into the city can get in.
She is keen on trials, like widening the footpaths for pedestrians in High St, but said doing anything transformative would need serious investment.
Beck also called for innovation around managing waste and deliveries, saying there are a large number of work vehicles vying for the same limited space.
Access for Everyone is included in a refresh of the council's city centre masterplan, which attracted 542 submissions, of which 82 per cent supported the strategy.
The council's planning committee will vote tomorrow to adopt the refreshed masterplan.
A car-free central city by numbers
60,000 - number of people who entered the city by car during the morning peak in 2001
80,000 - number of people who entered the city by car during the morning peak in 2018
105,000 - estimated number of people who will enter the city by car and public transport in 2028
11,000 - number of people who need to switch from car to public transport, walking and cycling by 2028
500,000 - projected number of walking trips per day in city centre by 2028
$270m - estimate to widen The Strand and Stanley St
$150m - estimate for new on and off motorway ramps
