The AMETI projects at the border between the former Auckland City and Manukau City will be some of the largest transport projects Auckland has ever seen, including a variety of new roads, a high-quality busway, and… a number of cycleways.
- This Monday, works have started for major changes in Panmure, where a new link road (and bridges over it) are to be built to take traffic off the Panmure roundabout. Auckland Transport is then intending to turn the roundabout into a traffic signal intersection in the next stage, to better serve the new busway, pedestrians and cyclists. In the short run, this has the potential to make Ellerslie Panmure Highway even worse for cyclists, as construction works reign. However, Ellerslie Panmure Highway isn’t particularly good for cycling to start with, so we hope only a few cyclists will actually be affected. And from our in-depth cooperation with the design team, we are hopeful that the works enabled by the new road & new bridges will benefit cycling nearly as much as public transport. We are particularly keen to see the new cycle route over Panmure Bridge, and various new off-road cycleways and cycle lanes coming to the project area in the next years.
Further south, on Mount Wellington Highway next to Sylvia Park, another set of significant changes is afoot. A new bus road will be built to allow access to the rear of the shopping centre from the south, cutting out delays for buses to the centre and the train station. Meanwhile Mount Wellington Highway itself is mooted to receive a variety of cycling improvements – which include some sections of on-road cycle lanes, but importantly, also shared paths on both sides of the road near the shopping centre, and as far as the intersection with Sylvia Park Road in the south. These plans are still under discussion, but Cycle Action is engaging closely with Auckland Transport – and we are hopeful that the proposed plans will offer a highly needed off-road option to avoid the up-to-six-lanes roads and the massive intersections dominating the area. The new shared paths should also make it much easier for all cyclists to get to the (currently almost unknown) existing off-road cycle path running from Sylvia Park along the SEART motorway feeder towards Church Street (pictured at the side).
Separately, we are also working together with the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board, to help us understand the local cycling desires better, and assist the board in their role as a champion for a more walkable and cycleable city.
