Subscribe to RSSTiverton Rd, Wolverton St Upgrade Goes Ahead
Auckland Transport has called for tenders on a major upgrade of Tiverton Road and Wolverton Street – a busy 2.2km stretch of arterial road between New Windsor and New Lynn.
Subject to tender and NZTA funding approvals, work on the essential upgrade is expected to start in the first half of next year. The upgrade will also strengthen connections between New Lynn, Rosebank Road, Lansford Crescent and the SH20 extension at Mount Roskill.
The proposed works are expected to take up to two years to complete and the aim is to provide a better and safer experience for road users and pedestrians.
It’s also good news for cyclists as it includes the development of a new cycle route along Miranda Street, Margate Road, Mulgan Street and New Windsor Road that will link with the New Lynn SH20 cycle route at Maioro Street.
The route forms an important district arterial route that links the rapidly developing New Lynn town centre with SH20 and the airport route. The project has category 1 funding approval by NZTA subject to the submission fo an updated business case but the project was foolishly removed from the 10- year plan by the old Auckland city council back in 2008. Stage 1 was completed in 2007. That involved construction of 2 large retaining walls between the Blockhouse Bay Rd and Whitney St and widening the route for 300m.
A community open day is being held on Thursday November 24 , 3pm to 6pm, at the New Windsor School Auditorium New Windsor Road, where people can learn about project plans and provide feedback.
The Tiverton-Wolverton upgrade, seeks to:
- Widen the existing roads to provide four lanes (two in each direction) from Clark Street East to the intersection of New Windsor Road and Maioro Street
- Improve pedestrian safety by upgrading the existing footpaths, installing four new pedestrian islands and introducing new pram crossings
- Install traffic signals at five major intersections to improve traffic flow and improve pedestrian safety: Taylor Street/Wolverton Street, St George Street/Wolverton Street. Blockhouse Bay Road/Tiverton Road/Wolverton Street, Whitney Street/Tiverton Road and Tiverton Road/New Windsor Road
- Upgrade the existing bus shelters along the route
- Underground Vector power and Telecom services
- Upgrade street lighting
- Upgrade and strengthen local catchpits to reduce localised flooding
- Investigate possible upgrades at other intersections to improve traffic flow, particularly during peak periods:§ Richardson Street/White Swan Road, White Swan Road/Hillsborough Road and White Swan Road/Donovan Road
Whau Local Board chairman Derek Battersby says his board fully endorses the project. “This is an essential upgrade that is ultimately going to bring many benefits for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and those living in the area,” he says.
“It will remove the bottleneck that occurs between the existing four-lane roads in New Lynn and New Windsor and give local residents new and safer crossing points and a wider footpath.
“The new cycle route nearby means cyclists travelling between New Lynn and Mt Roskill can avoid an extremely busy commuter and freight route. The corridor currently carries an average 33,400 vehicles a day but the upgrade will provide extra capacity for future increases, which will prove vital once construction of the NZTA’s SH20 Waterview connection begins.
The undergrounding and upgrading of local utility services is also a bonus and will help to improve the look of the area. “
The Whau Local Board is right behind this project and we’re keen to see it start as soon as possible.”
9 Comments
“but the project was foolishly removed from the 10- year plan by the old Auckland city council back in 2008″
Why is it “foolish” to remove (or, as it turns out now, simply defer) an expensive roading project during a time of very tight finances? Maybe Banks should have cut some bus services and gone forward directly with the project…
I’d say it wasn’t necessarily good that they removed it, that section of road is genuinely in need of an upgrade. And this should give more capacity than what this road take at the moment, we want to plan for the future don’t we? Obviously not as important as some rail projects, but important nonetheless.
It definitely needs to be done and good to see AT thinking about a cycle route that isn’t on the main arterial which I imagine would be a nightmare to cycle on (plus the route indicated seems much easier for cyclists than having to tackle that hill up Tiverton Rd
@Ingolfson Try telling it wasn’t foolish to the motorists caught up in a ridiculous traffic jam and slog every morning. Try it out for yourself.
The cycling component has the feel of an ‘add on’. Much like the ‘continuous path’ along SH20. This project is about cars….
Y’know sometimes projects centred around cars are good. Not everyone is going to hop in a train, and we need to have a balance. This project is a necessity, and more important than the likes of the rail link between avondale and onehunga.
Foolish would be installing another 5 sets of traffic lights. Why are some parts of Auckland that insist on putting in traffic lights which slow down traffic flow, cause people to find alternate routes through more residential side roads, frustrate drivers, and cause more accidents by people running red lights. While in other areas we find more roundabouts going in, which improve traffic flow, drivers are naturally more alert driving through them, and everyone gets where they want to. Yes, the roundabout at Blockhouse Bay/Tiverton/Wolverton is too small, but don’t replace it with lights, make it bigger !
“@Ingolfson Try telling it wasn’t foolish to the motorists caught up in a ridiculous traffic jam and slog every morning. Try it out for yourself.”
So letting out the belt now DOES fix obesity?
“The cycling component has the feel of an ‘add on’. Much like the ‘continuous path’ along SH20. This project is about cars….”
Mark, I met with the project manager last week, and they seem to be making a serious effort to get a good cycling route in place. The Tiverton section is hellish steep, and even if one managed to put cycle lanes in, who wants to cycle with tons of heavy trucks? I have ridden the alternative route, and it is so much nicer, even without the various tweaks they are proposing for cyclists.
For those who need to stay on Tiverton-Wolverton, there is supposed to be a 2.5m path on one side that one can cycle on, though it’s not clear yet whether it can be signed as a shared path officially.
So I agree with you - the project is mostly about cars, but at least there’s some thought and money going into cycling too.