Clever plan to make Tank Farm different

This transport story comes with a warning. If you drive a car, take a deep breath and prepare for the unthinkable.

Plans are afoot to limit vehicles at the Tank Farm and force people to walk, cycle or catch the bus.

To quote the character Black Adder to Baldrick in the Black Adder comedy, it's a plan "so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel".

After decades covering the city in tarmac, Auckland City transport planners have admitted roads are not the answer for the Tank Farm, which is expected to have 12,000 workers and 4000 residents by 2030.

Auckland City's new transport general manager and former green politician, Dr Stephen Rainbow, said the Tank Farm could not proceed with the emphasis on cars. From "day one" the emphasis would be on viable and attractive public transport, walking and cycling options.

Under the district plan change to rezone the 35ha Tank Farm, the council will stipulate a transport mix of 70 per cent public transport/walking/cycling and 30 per cent motor vehicle. That is the reverse of the 70:30 motor vehicle, public transport/other modes mix in Auckland City at present.

Once the mix is set, developers will have to show how they are going to implement it.

Fewer carparks are one answer. Modern and attractive public transport, including ferries, another.

One of the answers for people getting to and from the Tank Farm is a movable Te Wero bridge linking the Viaduct Harbour with the Tank Farm. The bridge will cost between $10 million for a basic pedestrian link to $30 million for an iconic structure capable of being used by pedestrians, cyclists and buses.

One of the first projects will be the construction of the bridge to Jellicoe St, which will become the main entertainment strip alongside the fish markets, with restaurants, bars and cafes.

If the bridge can take buses, transport planner Garson Bell said it could be used as a route for some North Shore buses. The plan is for an extended Daldy St, Jellicoe St and Te Wero bridge to be the main public transport route through the Tank Farm. Mr Bell said getting to and from the Tank Farm from Fanshawe St posed "significant challenges" but said there were solutions.

The intersections between the Tank Farm and Victoria Park are currently close to or over capacity from the 42,000 vehicles and 1000 buses that blast along Fanshawe St every day.

The new motorway link between the city and the harbour bridge, including a tunnel under Victoria Park, was expected to increase North Shore traffic using Cook St to come into the city and reduce traffic using Fanshawe St, he said.

Possible solutions include a four-lane underpass for Fanshawe St at Halsey St at a cost of $80 million, and a one-way, clockwise system around Victoria Park. Whatever options are chosen, the council is adamant the traffic measures will do nothing to disrupt the $290 million Northern Busway running down Fanshawe St.

The council is also investigating pedestrian overbridges from Graham St across Fanshawe St and between Daldy St and Victoria Park at a cost of $5 million each.

Another transport issue is Transit's plans for a new harbour crossing, including one option for an "immersed-tube tunnel under the harbour" which would emerge near the cement silos on the Tank Farm.

Transit has asked the council and Ports of Auckland to safeguard the option of landing the tunnel on the Tank Farm.

It remains to be seen how serious Transit is about bringing a tunnel crossing up at the Tank Farm.


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