Councillor blames cancelled trains, ‘car blockade’, construction works for CBD gridlock

• Motorists were stuck in a central city carpark building for up to two hours yesterday.
• Auckland Transport says open days at Auckland University and AUT contributed to CBD traffic slowing to a crawl.
• Councillor Mike Lee blames cancelled trains, an anti-car agenda, and long-running construction works.

Auckland Councillor Mike Lee blames cancelled trains, an anti-car agenda, and long-running construction works for yesterday’s near-gridlock in the central city.

Traffic in Auckland’s CBD slowed to a crawl yesterday afternoon, with some motorists having to wait in the Victoria Street carpark building for nearly two hours to leave.

“Were the trains running? No. Auckland now has essentially a part-time train service, while at the same time AT/AC continues its car blockade of the city centre with enormously expensive, forever construction works for cycleways and footpath extensions,” Lee wrote on social media today.

Buses have replaced trains this weekend on the rail network for maintenance and upgrade work.

The congestion coincided with Auckland University and Auckland University of Technology - within walking distance of the Victoria St carpark - holding open days yesterday.

Councillor Mike Lee says trains were cancelled yesterday. Photo / Michael Craig

Lee said construction works have gone on for years on main routes in the CBD, including a project to build a cycleway and an enormous footpath that started in March last year and is still under construction.

“They are building footpaths like it’s an AFL final in Melbourne every day.

“It’s ridiculous, this construction goes on forever. It must be a huge money-spinner for the contractors but there doesn’t seem to be any urgency about getting the job finished,” said the Waitematā and Gulf Islands councillor whose ward includes the CBD.

Lee said data from Heart of the City showed 33,000 fewer people are coming into the CBD in the morning peak, saying all the council’s strategic and transport plans are strangling the commercial life, at least, out of the central city.

“Cities can fail and Auckland is on the road to failure,” Lee said.

An Auckland Transport spokesperson said last night that Auckland city centre is a popular weekend destination and events such as the open day at Auckland University can cause more congestion than normal.

“We know this can be frustrating and stressful for drivers and we do what we can to keep traffic moving.

“One way we do this is at Auckland Transport Operations Centre where the team constantly monitors the roads and optimises traffic signals when needed to improve traffic flow so people can move more quickly.”

Drivers in central Auckland's Victoria Street carpark were forced to wait for at least 90 minutes as the traffic has backed up yesterday. Photo / Matthew Lee

The centre was opened by Transport Minister Simeon Brown in March, saying it would benefit Auckland commuters by ensuring agencies work closer together to provide a faster and more joined-up response to problems arising on the network.

Matthew Lee told the Herald yesterday that he had to wait in his car on level 17 of the Victoria St carpark for at least 90 minutes.

“I had been shopping in town since 12pm, and got to my car around 2.30pm, decided to leave and that’s when I realised the carpark wasn’t moving,” he said.

“I got out of the space, lined up and realised I haven’t moved for more than an hour.

“People possibly could have been waiting for two hours. By the time I get out, it could take as long as two hours.”

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Matthew Lee thinks the reason for the delay is due to the nearby roadworks.

“It is preventing people from exiting the carpark and backing everything up.”

He said the situation became quite tense. “There are kids in some of the cars. There has been some yelling, which is quite understandable.”

Lee estimated he moved roughly 50m between 3.15pm and 3.45pm.

A person in another car told him Auckland Council would send a traffic manager to the area to control the flow of cars.

Drivers in central Auckland's Victoria Street carpark were yesterday forced to wait for at least 90 minutes to get out. Photo / Dean Purcell

At the end of last year, drivers were forced to wait for nearly four hours in the Westfield Newmarket carpark after the queue exiting it at an Auckland mall moved at a crawl.

One shopper told the Herald she had been stuck in her car at Westfield Newmarket for about two and a half hours.

“At the moment, we’re sitting here not sure what to do,” she said.

“I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack. It’s absolutely scary being trapped in a mall.”

Bernard Orsman is an award-winning reporter who has been covering Auckland’s local politics and transport since 1998. Before that, he worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.