Wellington Street on-ramp review

The NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Transport (AT) have completed a three-month joint review undertaken to understand how the use of the Wellington Street on-ramp affects Auckland's transport network - both motorways and the local roads.

To achieve this, the Transport Agency and AT engaged industry experts to conduct an in-depth transport assessment and to seek feedback and insights from the surrounding communities.

A total of 710 submissions were received during the engagement period from mid-June 2012 through to 13 July 2012. This is a high response rate, reflecting a significant level of community interest.

The traffic analysis has identified that there is currently capacity in the PM peak for approximately 400 vehicles per hour to enter the motorway from the Wellington Street on-ramp without unduly compromising the efficiency of the motorway. This is more capacity than existed pre-Victoria Park Tunnel opening. The feedback from the community has indicated that a majority would like the Wellington Street on-ramp reopened, with both positive and negative effects identified.

As a result of the findings of the traffic analysis, community engagement responses and review process, the project working group recommended that Wellington Street on-ramp be re-opened and made the following recommendations:

• Open Wellington Street on-ramp with constrained flows in the PM peak.
• Monitor Wellington Street on-ramp, SH1 and local road performance into the future.
• Specific improvements to local roads may be required to better manage traffic flows and associated safety and amenity as a consequence of the Wellington Street on-ramp reopening.
• Identify opportunities for network wide solutions in the future.
• Undertake annual reporting back to the public on efficiency of the one network.

These recommendations were endorsed by the Transport Agency and Auckland Transport senior management at a meeting on 31 July 2012.