Buses get priority in traffic shake-up

Bus routes are being radically rejigged through a key part of central Auckland, squeezing out some general traffic to allow swifter trips for passengers from the North Shore.

West Auckland passengers will also be offered a quicker getaway home from the central business district on peak-hour bus lanes along much of Albert St and up the Vincent St hill.

The lanes, to be opened by the end of this month, will form one end of a relatively seamless bus priority corridor from the Harbour Bridge to the central city to cope with a major expansion of services from northern parts.

North Shore and Hibiscus Coast residents will from early next month gain up to 40 per cent more peak-hour services, ready to feed the $290 million Northern Busway as it develops over the next three years between Albany and the bridge.

The new services, representing a 28 per cent overall rise, will cost the Auckland Regional Transport Authority an extra $17.5 million a year.

Transit New Zealand is extending to the end of the Fanshawe St motorway off-ramp a bus priority lane now running along the side of the motorway from the bridge, and an Auckland City Council road widening project will allow this to reach Sturdee St by the end of the year.

A bus lane is also being established in Sturdee St this month, at the same time as those in Albert and Vincent Sts, as most buses will be diverted through there in future.

But the new lanes towards the end of the route will mean less room along an already crowded Albert St for other peak-hour traffic, which the council will encourage to use Hobson St instead.

Hobson St will gain more capacity for general traffic after the transfer of most North Shore bus services from that road to Albert St, although there will be no route changes for passengers from Birkenhead and Hibiscus Coast.

Most services from over the bridge now turn right up Hobson St from Fanshawe St, and left down Victoria St, before heading back north along Albert St.

The new configuration will see Stagecoach and Ritchies Transport buses veer left down Sturdee St to Quay St, before turning right up Albert St to the end of their runs near the rear of the Aotea Centre.

They will then circle round Mayoral Drive to Queen St, pick up northbound passengers outside the Civic Theatre, turn left up Wellesley St and then right into Albert St.

Construction work associated with the Albert St bus lanes has just begun, on widening what has until now been a dangerously narrow footpath on the opposite side of the road from the Auckland District Court, between the Wyndham and Victoria St intersections.

Senior transport planner Stephen Cable said yesterday the council at first feared there would not be enough room for a bus lane and a wider footpath, but consultants had found a way of accommodating both.

He acknowledged there would be some narrowing of road lanes to make room for a 1.6m footpath, which will for the first time be wide enough for pedestrians to pass one another.

But moving the centre line a little way towards the northern side of the street would allow 3.5m for buses and bicycles, and 3m for general traffic.

An option of cantilevering a footpath off the left side of the road was ruled out as too costly and against the heritage status of the stone brick wall above Durham St West.

A set of traffic lights will also be installed on Albert St north of the Victoria St intersection to allow an easier exit for vehicles banked up at peak hours in Durham St.

The project will represent the first major incursion by bus lanes into central Auckland, although a new section opened last month on the upper half of the Queen St hill.

Tow trucks are doing a roaring trade on that stretch, removing cars parked in the new lane during a 3pm to 7pm enforcement period.

Council transport committee chairman Richard Simpson admitted that giving bus passengers priority over motorists was a bold move.

The bus lanes "show how serious Auckland City is about building a strong passenger transport network for the region", he said.

"For Auckland to progress as an international city, we need an integrated transport system that includes reliable, frequent and affordable passenger transport that people choose to use over taking their cars."

New services

* New peak-hour bus lanes along much of Albert St and up the Vincent St hill from next month.

* The lanes are part of a bus corridor from the Harbour Bridge to the central city.

* 40 per cent more services for North Shore and Hibiscus Coast residents will start from early next month.