More bus lanes coming – this time to city’s harbour quays
A planned revamp of Wellington’s Golden Mile will reduce bus capacity through the heart of town just as patronage is on the rise, meaning the harbour quays will lose a car lane in each direction as new bus lanes go in.
A “second bus spine” was already being planned as an interim measure until mass rapid transport was delivered as part of the Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) plan, which was ditched soon after the new government came to power.
But Greater Wellington Regional Council papers show the plan is now to create a permanent second bus spine.
They show a “projected growth in bus users” mixed with “changes in street capacity as part of the Golden Mile upgrade” mean a second route through the city is needed within three years.
LGWM was a $7.4 billion plan reshaping the city’s transport with mass rapid transit, a second Mount Victoria tunnel, and a complete overhaul of the Golden Mile from Courtenay Place to the railways station.
Central government and Wellington’s city and regional councils were partners in the project but, after it died, some component parts fell to the different organisations. The Government is pushing ahead with a second tunnel, the city council is going it alone with the Golden Mile and Thorndon Quay changes, while the regional council is taking charge of the second spine.
Regional council chairperson Daran Ponter said the Golden Mile was already like a “conga line” for buses as for most of the strip there was nowhere for buses to pass. The Golden Mile changes would mean there was nowhere to overtake through the city.
But the stretch was already past international best practice and capacity. The regional council had agreed to a second spine when LGWM was dissolved.
He confirmed one lane in each direction along the quays would become bus-only. It was not yet clear if the route would only be used in peak hours but would likely initially be used for express buses, including the Airport Express.
Council transport committee chairperson Thomas Nash said the bus capacity issue meant the city would need to get more buses.
Wellington recently set a new record for bus trips taken in a single day, which Nash attributed to a good turnaround in reliability.
“We just have to keep going,” he said.