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Friday, March 29, 2024

Eastern Busway Stage 2 Design Consultation

The Eastern Busway is one of the largest and most important transportation projects in Tamaki Makaurau at the moment. The first phase of the Eastern Busway between Panamora and Pkoranga Almost completed and due to open next month.

Oakland Transport has now launched a consultation regarding their draft plan for the remaining 5km section between them Pakuranga and Botany, And there are some big changes compared to the designs introduced in the past. The most noticeable difference here is in Burswood but there are also changes in botany and the bike network. In connection with these changes it seems that everyone is focusing on finding ways not to interfere with the flow of existing traffic and priority. They also seem to be another product of the growing trend of secrecy in which almost final plans are presented to the public at the very last minute instead of agencies examining the problems of previous designs with the public before finding solutions.

Burswood deviation

The northern part of the project between Pakuranga Rd and Gossamer Dr remains the same as we saw before with a central station to be built in Pakuranga and then the bus road down the center of Ti Rakau Dr.

Magusmer The new plan is to divert the bus route back to the north side of T. Rakau and then turn around at the back of the commercial area at Burswood To the station, take out 30-40 houses, before sending it back to the north side of Ti Rakau.

The main reason AT is giving this change in design is the cost, saying that sticking to Ti Rakau Dr will see the cost of the project exceed the $ 867 million budget. They also claim this option has safety benefits, it is faster in construction in 12-18 months and therefore it brings less disruption, better for bus speeds and reliability and is better for overall traffic.

The argument for improving the speed and reliability of buses is that buses will have only two low-traffic intersections to pass through. Lights will be added to these junctions and buses will receive signal priority, meaning the only time they will normally have to stop will be at Burswood station. For comparison there are currently five major intersections controlled at a traffic light in this section of T. Rakau.

The proposed Burswood station

I understand the argument and also point out that although it seems significant, it only adds about 300m to the total length of the route. But I’m still not convinced it’s the best result and here’s the reason.

They say this is not the case but the strong impression I get is that although it is not in any of the results they say they are looking for, someone in the middle of AT decided that the project should reduce the impact it has on traffic rules. The project team then works backwards from there to raise its proposal and justification for it.

For example, the main reason for the high cost is because the engineers say bus route Can only be obtained By widening the entire corridor to accommodate not only the road but also all existing lanes and other access lanes in this section. The unreliability is due to the fact that they allow right turns at any intersection. In addition, they say, the expansion will affect access to commercial properties on the south side of the corridor.

However, council and government plans require a significant change of status away from private vehicles and a reduction in the amount of miles traveled in vehicles to help deal with emissions and congestion. Traffic models used to justify the need for these lanes and to divert the bus route will almost certainly not take into account such a change.

Instead, changing most intersections by removing right turns so that they remain in / out only will reduce the need to buy property and make buses more reliable. Drop some of the other extra paths and this cost can be further reduced.

The image below is what will fit in most of the existing corridor now.

It will be interesting to see the result of the consultation if such an option is presented alongside the new preference for diversion.

Urban development potential

Another factor that AT claims contradicts the Betty Rakao lane retention is that they say it “reduced future land use opportunities” compared to the diversion option. At least it seems to be much easier to change designation and redevelop the large commercial blocks on the south side of T. Rakau than to purchase much of the small residential properties in Burswood.

Burswood Connections?

One thing that amazes me about looking at Burswood is that it is a peninsula that can be easily connected to nearby areas with a few simple walking and cycling bridges. These can also improve the perception of the station and I wonder if the locals should ask for some of them as an easy change to the proposed route. Some options can include:

  • To the west to facilitate access to Riverhills schools
  • North of the link to the industrial area around Ben Lomond Kress – there is a Watercare site with access to water that can be useful here
  • To the northeast that could have put houses there within walking distance of the station.

The deviation of botany

The bus route is also directed east at Also the end of botany With the offer to cross Ti Rakau Dr then through Guys Reserve to the station seen around Te Koha Rd. This station will also be the terminus of the bus from the planned botany airport. This route will be a slightly faster journey than passing through the huge junction Ti Rakau Dr / Ti Irirangi Dr.

What surprises me is that AT went for the option that batteries part of a reserve.

There are no pictures yet of what the botanical station might look like.

One station less

Another change from previous plans is that they canceled the offer for a station near Huntington Dr.

The bicycle network

You notice from the maps above that in Burswood the proposed cycle route also deviates from Ti Rakau. AT say this is because of the safety and avoidance of it crossing a number of parking lanes at Ti Rakau, although it will have to cross almost equally roads at the Burswood Dr.

Looking at the map there are only a few properties that also do not have access to a side road like Burswood Dr or Torrens Rd. I wonder if AT could not just work with those property owners to streamline access to the access path and keep the bike path in direct trajectory.

A similar issue exists at the end of the botany but the botany also raises another question, how do you get from the east / northeast area to the bike path?

I guess this project may not provide everything, but it feels like there should be at least a bike path up here to the Ti Rakau / Ti Irirangi Dr. junction.

Reeves Rd Flyover

As noted earlier, plans at the northern end of this phase have remained unchanged and this means the Reeves Rd Flyover is still on the agenda. Similar to Burswood’s deviation, AT continues to argue that it’s all about making buses more reliable and reducing congestion, even though it’s really about relieving drivers, which will encourage more people to drive and exacerbate congestion. Also, this is what a large public transportation project looks like …….

Why AT adds or maintains skating rinks. And for pedestrians there are up to five crossings that they will have to make to get from one side of Ti Rakau Dr to the other side, such as from the southwest side (right side pictured above) to the mall. This is hardly a way to encourage more walkable and cycling communities.


The consultation is open until December 10 And AT say they hope to have some advanced work by the end of next year, when the whole thing will be over by 2026 – which is a delay when it was past 2025.

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