Queen St on track for exciting future

The Auckland City Council favours light rail to carry commuters along a central corridor. GEOFF CUMMING joins a group of interested parties who are exploring the options.

Do you want your tram lines in the middle or on the side? Will that be with vegetation on top of, or instead of, the translucent verandas?

Laying light rail tracks along Queen St is an opportunity to reinvent Auckland's Golden Mile as a world-class shop window to the city, say public transport proponents.

A menu of options for running high-speed, modern trams up and down "the nation's premier street" was pored over by interest groups at a downtown seminar yesterday.

The concept plans drawn up by consultants would confine traffic to a single lane each way, or divert it altogether in places to create a mall.

Landscaping, lighting and amenities such as sidewalk cafes would enhance emerging "precincts" along the shopping strip - from the maritime flavour at one end to the arts and entertainment zone around Aotea Square.

It may sound far-fetched but planners working to head off gridlock in the central city are in earnest.

Under the city's planned rapid transit network, Queen St forms part of the central corridor route, which runs between the western rail line (connecting near Newmarket) and the Britomart terminal.

Although no decisions have been made, light rail is favoured by the Auckland City Council to carry up to 4300 commuters an hour each way along the corridor, linking with high-frequency services on the western and southern lines.

The route would run from the Britomart station up Queen St, turn left at Wellesley St, cut across Grafton Gully via a bridge and head for Newmarket through a tunnel under Auckland Hospital.

A new station near the intersection of Carlton Gore Rd and Park Rd would provide the western line connection.

Plans to tunnel under Albert Park were dropped to reduce the cost, which is now estimated at $100 million.

While details such as finance, access to the rail corridors and the type of mass transit system are still being thrashed out, the council wants to advance planning along the central corridor route as far as it can.

Yesterday's workshop was the third opportunity for vested interest groups from every angle to pick holes in the four options put forward.

The option getting most votes would have light rail vehicles using the inner, kerbside lane on each side with motorists using the two central lanes. Traffic could be barred altogether between Victoria St and Wellesley St to form a mall.

But as with all Auckland transport issues, there is a long way to go before tracks are laid in the tarmac. Fishhooks identified yesterday ranged from pedestrian safety to traffic delays, service access for shops and offices, parking and the ripple effect on adjoining streets to negotiating intersections.

City councillor Victoria Carter wondered whether the scheme might drive away retailers rather than revive the once-premier shopping strip. Regional councillor Jack Henderson pondered the fate of buses that now use Queen St. Several speakers expressed fears for the future of upper Queen St and Karangahape Rd.

But consultant Arijs Pakalns is in no doubt the obstacles can be overcome. Minneapolis-based Mr Pakalns, of planning firm URS, told the Herald many European cities had successfully blended light rail with the needs of motorists, pedestrians, retailers and office workers. A number of North American cities were now in a similar position to Auckland - desperately trying to start a mass transit system before roads were gridlocked.

Traffic planners Arup Transportation say the 16,000 vehicles a day that use Queen St at its busiest point can be successfully absorbed on other thoroughfares.

And with 20,000 pedestrians on the street at peak hour, Queen St is touted as having the numbers needed to make light rail succeed.

Council streetscape planner Brian Toy summed up the sentiments of many when he described Queen St as "the throbbing heart of the main city of New Zealand - we must develop it to maintain that status.

"We are not talking about Eketahuna or Napier here, we are talking about Queen St 20 years from now."

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