Introduction:
Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi (NZTA) are proposing short-term changes (5 years) to improve public transport along SH16 (before longer-term plans to install rapid transport lanes like on the Northern motorway). This includes:
- A station at Westgate and interim bus stops at the Lincoln Road and Te Atatū motorway interchanges.
- Upgrading and extending the existing bus shoulder lanes on the Northwestern Motorway (SH16).
- Improvements at motorway interchanges to increase priority for buses.
- A review of the bus network to utilise the new bus stops.
While this is not cycle infrastructure, it does mean people might want to cycle to the Te Atatū (and other) interchange(s) to get on the express buses, in which case they will need some bike parking. There will also potentially be more pedestrians using the shared paths around Te Atatū interchange.
Bike Te Atatū’s feedback:
Bike Te Atatū made a submission on this on behalf of the group. We said that we support the improvements in general and asked them to consider 3 things in particular:
- Weather-sheltered bike racks in visible locations and with CCTV coverage at the new bus stops.
- Potential pedestrian/bike conflict where the NW cycleway and its feeder paths intersect, especially when the path is busy at peak times. We asked them not to use any hazards like chicanes or bollards.
- Improvement of signal crossing times for pedestrians (and by extension, bikes). Signal times need to favour pedestrians over traffic.
