13 March, 2025

Hit list of measures could ease Lake Rd gridlock

A hit list of quick-win options for Lake Rd traffic-flow improvements and motorway connections has been compiled by Auckland Transport.
They include lower-cost ways to ease Lake Rd peak-hour choke points, such as by adjusting traffic-light phasing at the Bardia St intersection.
A clearway at the morning peak in front of shops at the Belmont town centre is under investigation, to lengthen the merge area for cars exiting Bayswater Ave to the north.
And a T2 or T3 lane is being eyed for traffic merging onto State Highway 1 from Esmonde Rd.
Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members last week urged AT staff at a workshop to move quickly on the list.
“Every day people sit in traffic they get more and more frustrated,” said acting board chair Terence Harpur.
“If we can’t do the big project because of funding, let’s get stuck into the small changes,” said Harpur, wanting to see implementation within six months.
Hurdles to that goal will include AT’s requirements for further assessments of options, detailed design, securing budget and in some cases public consultations.
AT has previously been reluctant to initiate smaller Lake Rd projects, ahead of a wider upgrade, including some of the ideas it has on its list, which community members and elected representatives have previously suggested.
But any larger-scale Lake Rd project is now years down the priority order for lack of committed co-funding from Waka Kotahi, the New Zealand Transport Agency.
At the workshop, AT staff said advances in sensor technology had made it more worthwhile to consider traffic lights adjustments. But installing traffic lights at Eversleigh St was not considered justified at this stage.
The list of ideas AT is focusing on are primarily those that do not require expensive kerb changes.
Even for measures such as lane changes on Esmonde Rd, a return on investment had to be established, it cautioned.
Board members were keen to see widening of Lake Rd considered where footpaths were particularly wide, but AT said it did not have funds for such work.
Nor does it support ‘dynamic’ traffic lanes on the Lake Rd corridor, due to the heavy traffic flow in both directions, or consider a blanket right-turning ban off Lake Rd to be workable.
Board member Gavin Busch wanted AT to consider adding parking restrictions on one-side of Northboro Rd to its hit list, given the road was used by buses and as a major detour route from Lake Rd.
Busch, a volunteer firefighter, said congestion caused by a recent crash outside Takapuna Grammar School (TGS) highlighted the importance of Northboro Rd for emergency access to the peninsula.
Moving the bus stop on the corner of Eversleigh St closer to the main entrance to TGS will be considered. Members suggested this might be more effective than another AT idea of extending the existing bus-stop area, which gets crowded with students who have to cross the corner to reach it.
Board members also suggested AT’s desire to extend two-laning from Hauraki Corner south to Onepoto Rd be stretched further along Lake Rd towards the BP service station.
AT will report back to the board in a month.

Eight AT ideas

1. Esmonde Rd: Replace bus lane westbound onto motorway with a combined bus and T2 or T3 lane. Extend outer lane from Barrys Pt Rd towards Akoranga.
2. Flag journey times into Lake Rd on new signs.
3. Hauraki corner: Extend two through-lanes northbound to Onepoto Rd.
4. Crossing times: Optimise crossing phasing and upgrade detection systems at TGS to match stoppage times to pedestrian numbers.
5. Remove P90 parking outside TGS to aid cycle safety.
6. Co-ordinate lights at Bardia St and Bayswater Ave intersections.
7. Remove Lake Rd parking near Bayswater Ave corner to extend merge. Options range from the loss of just two spaces to a clearway to Corrella Rd. (Timeframe of up to two years to consult and implement.)
8. Cycle routes: Add signage to direct southbound cyclists off Lake Rd to Owens Rd and Victoria Rd. Possibly extend cycle lane between Corrella Rd and Egremont St.