The third option, costing $70m-plus, would involve buying properties, road widening, major disruption and take more than 10 years to build. It would, however, provide "a greater scale and range of benefits".
Work on the options in an indicative business case will occur between Hauraki Corner and Bayswater Ave.
The options, made public by North Shore councillor Chris Darby, have sparked a fierce debate on the Devonport Locals Facebook Group page.
Bayswater resident Lothar Bongartz said the power line poles along Lake Rd should be removed between Belmont and Hauraki to make room for additional priority lanes for buses, cars carrying three of more passengers and electric vehicles.
Eva Keim said the topic makes many people angry, but building more roads and continuing to support single-car transport has never worked.
Not everyone should bike or bus, she said, but there are many trips were people did not need to use cars, such as older kids biking to school.
Laura Ross said traffic lights coupled with a single-lane merge at Belmont causes huge backlogs of traffic, adding it had taken her 20 minutes to get through the junction this morning.
Last month, the Herald revealed that a quarter of the city's busiest roads, including Lake Rd, are already congested during the morning and evening peaks, up from 18 per cent three years ago.
On weekdays, the intersection of Lake Rd and Esmonde Rd is a choke point for 32,000 vehicles. Lake Rd is regularly clogged up at weekends.
Auckland's rapid population growth - the city grew by 121,000 people, the size of Tauranga, in the past three years - is increasing traffic chaos. One in three main roads will be congested by about 2020, says Auckland Transport.
Every week, 800 new vehicles are registered in Auckland, further challenging the likes of Lake Rd, Lincoln Rd and routes to the airport.
What's more, more than 2000 new homes are planned, mostly at Bayswater and Belmont, on the narrow Devonport peninsula under Auckland Council's Unitary Plan.
Recently, opponents of a huge six-level retirement village on a 4.2-hectare site near Devonport expressed concern about the amount of traffic it could generate in the area.
Darby and fellow North Shore councillors Richard Hills favour the middle option for Lake Rd, costing $30m to $40m. It involves shifting some kerbs to create longer sections of transit lanes.
Darby, a Stanley Bay resident, said Lake Rd was the number one issue locally. The challenge, he said, was to increase capacity from the average occupancy of 1.2 passengers per vehicle in peak hours.
"The solutions are not about making it easier for single-occupancy vehicles," said Darby.
Darby and Hills are pushing for bus priority and high-occupancy vehicles, bringing forward a $6m upgrade of the Bayswater ferry terminal and developing travel plans with the navy, Takapuna Grammar and Belmont Intermediate schools.
"We can't have the unrealistic option of widening the road. I don't want to see properties sliced up," Hills said.
Darby said Auckland Transport was also investigating a new lane for cars carrying two or more passengers along Esmonde Rd, from Eldon St to the motorway on-ramp.
George Wood, former Auckland councillor and Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member, said people are hopping mad about the "wishy-washy" options.
The options do not confront the real issues, he said, such as one lane in each direction between Hauraki Corner and Belmont, and removing power poles to make room for additional bus and high-occupancy vehicles.
An Auckland Transport spokesman said the options for Lake Rd were being presented to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and councillors on Tuesday.
He said Auckland Transport would be seeking public feedback to choose a preferred way forward and then seek funding.
An earlier $51 million project for Lake Rd was removed from the council's long-term budget in 2015.
The three options for Lake Rd
Option 1
Cost: $10m
What's involved: Kerbs unchanged, road markings used to achieve segments of transit lanes.
Effect: Minor community disruption. Least benefits.
Risk: Easiest to achieve. Least delivered risk. People expect greater benefit.
Time frame: Quicker to secure funding and deliver. Likely in five years.
Option 2
Cost: $30m-$40m
What's involved: Shift some kerbs to create longer sections of transit lanes.
Effect: Moderate community disruption. Partial benefits.
Risk: Moderate delivery risk. All works within road reserve. Underground services relocation.
Time frame: Moderate time to secure funding and deliver. Likely five to 10 years.
Option 3
Cost: $70m-plus
What's involved: Widen road in adjoining properties. Full provision for all movements.
Effect: High community disruption. Greater scale and range of benefits.
Risk: Harder to achieve. Need for property acquisition. Impacts time and cost. Underground services relocation.
Time frame: Longer time to secure funding, undertake consenting, acquiring land and deliver. Likely 10-plus years.
* All options include bus/ferry improvements. Cycle lanes retained. Traffic demand management and technology components.
