Anybody who lives in or travels through east Auckland will be familiar with the new Rā Hihi flyover in Pakūranga. The Eastern Busway project created the flyover for general traffic to bypass the congestion hotspot of Pakūranga town centre. In an update that surprised absolutely no one who dedicates their time to urban planning and transport design, it turned out that the flyover didn’t actually solve congestion here. In fact, it made it worse.
Enter Simeon Brown, MP for Pakūranga and former Minister of Transport. Under his “suggestion,” Auckland Transport were instructed to go back to the drawing board to fix the new problem. Simeon’s proposed solution was to remove the planned on-road cycleway and replace it with an extra traffic lane. The replacement of the cycleway between the intersection of Ti Rakau Dr/Pakuranga Rd and Rā Hihi/Pakuranga Rd would, he felt, allow more flow through this section.
As Bike Auckland said at the time, Simeon’s letter represents an unprecedented interference by an MP in decisions that ought to be determined by transport specialists. (You can read more on Simeon’s request in Greater Auckland.) Faced with the prospect of losing the cycleway altogether, Bike Auckland encouraged you to write to Auckland Transport in November. Thanks to the many people who did so.
Auckland Transport shortlisted two options for a new design:
- Option 4. AT would implement three lanes of eastbound traffic and a bi-directional cycleway on the southern side of this stretch of road.
- Option 4a would be very similar. It would involve removing the newly-constructed build-out (curve) at the Rā Hihi/Pakuranga Rd intersection. The idea is to allow unimpeded traffic flow. (Under Option 4 traffic has to slow to navigate this kink in the road.)
Bike Auckland’s Infrastructure Team were among a small number of stakeholders invited to submit on Option 4 and Option 4a. There was no public consultation.
We analysed the positives and negatives of the original plan compared to the two new options. Auckland Transport reallocating road space away from bikes and to general traffic sucks, and we shared as much in our feedback. For people on bikes, there isn’t much material difference overall between the two designs (4 and 4a). The bidirectional cycleway actually has some advantages over the original plan. We also strongly suggested that AT include some provision to facilitate cycle access to St Kentigern College, as the cycleway stops just shy of the school gate.
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In a mixed bag of success and disappointment, Auckland Transport announced they will be proceeding with Option 4 at a cost of $2.5 million.
The success here is that AT is still going to build a cycleway. That cycleway has direct access to Pakūranga Town Centre and the new cycleway along the Eastern Busway as well as a direct connection to the cycleway heading west towards Panmure. Additionally, the retention of the build-out (curve) at the intersection should help to calm through-traffic and make the walking environment slightly less unpleasant than it otherwise would be. Option 4a (removing the build-out) would have cost $11 million.
AT has not taken up our request for cycle infrastructure to St Kent’s.
“Extension of the cycleway on the northern side of Pakūranga Road to Saint Kentigern College is not within the Eastern Busway Alliance project scope and will be considered by Auckland Transport for future projects.”
The school was also highly supportive of improving cycling in the area for their students and staff. We hope they will continue to advocate for better biking despite this disappointment, and that we can support them to do so.
The updated design should be completed by the end of July 2026.
