Subscribe to RSSARC Says No To T2
As expected, an ARC committee today opposed the Auckland City proposal to allow cars to use Dominion Road bus lanes.
The transport and urban development committee unanimously passed resolutions that state:
- The ARC generally supports the proposals to improve conditions for bus users and cyclists on Dominion Road, and encourages Auckland City Council to continue to progress these initiatives
- opposes the proposal to allow cars with 2 or more occupants to use the bus lane
- supports the proposal to provide a separate lane for cyclists on midblock sections of the bus lane
- supports the proposal to remove parking from Dominion Road over the length of the bus lane
- supports the proposal that the bus lane operate 24 hours each day
A report to today’s committee meeting said that Dominion Road is one of the most heavily used links in the QTN.
The council was making progress in delivering better conditions for bus passengers and bus operations on Dominion Road than on most other sections of the QTN.
It was proposed that the ARC generally support ACC proposals to support bus users and cyclists on Dominion Road, and encourage ACC to continue to progress these initiatives.
But on the issue of T2, the report said that there will be high volumes of buses using the lane. Because of the number of
property accesses and side roads, there will also be a relatively large number of vehicles using the lane for short distances in order to turn on to and off of Dominion Road.
“To allow more cars to use the lane is likely to reduce the benefits to buses, and to make the situation more confusing and more difficult to enforce.”
b-line buses may have to use the Dominion Rd footpath!
Discussing cycling on Dominion Rd, the report said the Auckland City proposal is to provide a separate lane for cycles only, between the bus lane and the kerb on mid block sections of the bus lane and Dominion Road is relatively flat and
serves a large catchment of potential cyclists.
“The current practice of allowing cyclists to share bus lanes with buses is not ideal and many cyclists feel intimidated in this environment. Providing a separate cycle lane midblock is expected to be a significant incentive to encourage more people to cycle. Through the village centres there is insufficient width for separate cycle lanes and cyclists will continue to share
the bus lane with buses.
” A width of 4.2m is proposed for the shared lane, wider than most existing bus/cycle lanes.” So the committee supported the proposal to provide a separate lane for cyclists mid block.
3 Comments
So who actually has the final say here?
@CB Auckland City Council
Essentially, Auckland Transport / Auckland Council, as none of this will get done before the elections.
Oh, yes, consultation will occur, and ACC could turn it all into T2 lanes before they go out, but that has little bearing (except being a very negative omen) on what specific layout is used in the future. It all comes down to the votes at the election booth in October.