NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Queen St retailers furious with Auckland Council and Auckland Transport for messing up Queen St

Bernard Orsman
By Bernard Orsman
Auckland Reporter·NZ Herald·
9 Jul, 2020 05:27 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The concrete safety separators installed last night on Queen St. Photo / Auckland Council

The concrete safety separators installed last night on Queen St. Photo / Auckland Council

Auckland Council and Auckland Transport are in the dog box amid claims they have messed up Queen St while businesses are trying to get back on their feet after lockdown.

Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck is hopping mad with senior bureaucrats for breaking promises and having an agenda that "reeks of a pre-determined outcome".

Her anger stems from the council and Auckland Transport pressing ahead with the "Access for Everyone" pilot that involves taking out bus lanes and reducing Queen St to one lane in each direction to make it more pedestrian friendly.

This has resulted in buses sharing the single lane with cars and taking longer to go up and down Queen St.

READ MORE:
• Queen St to remain one lane as Auckland Council 'build upon' Covid-19 barriers for pedestrian friendly trial
• No cars on Queen St: the new plan for the central city
• Council votes to trial turning central Auckland into a car-free zone
• Future for downtown Auckland? Plans revealed for reducing cars in Queen St

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Beck accused the bureaucrats of jumping the gun on a process for the future of Queen St, leaving businesses to live with a mess outside their shops and offices.

Overnight, said Beck, the council placed concrete dividers on Queen St between Customs St and Shortland St, including one at the Fort St intersection.

"They are aware this intersection is already causing issues in the shared space and they have not answered our question as to how they have come to close it without any discussion with surrounding businesses," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck. Photo / Dough Sherring
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck. Photo / Dough Sherring

Council's chief of strategy Megan Tyler defended the actions of the council and Auckland Transport, saying the result will be "a very real change for the better".

Tyler said the temporary emergency works on Queen St using orange cones, later replaced by white plastic sticks, for physical distance during alert Level 3, are an opportunity to quickly and efficiently test and refine work as part of a co-design process.

It meant the council could gain immediate feedback without the cost of moving emergency structures and having to reinstate them again, she said.

Tyler cited the example of the concrete safety separators between Customs St and Shortland St that have upset Beck.

Discover more

New Zealand

Auckland mall complex fire caused by 'spontaneous combustion'

01 Jul 07:33 AM
Business

Water restrictions push blasting businesses to brink

07 Jul 12:31 AM
New Zealand

Auckland Council budget hole soars to $750m

07 Jul 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Auckland Council reveals plan to cut 500 more jobs

08 Jul 05:47 AM

Beck said AT promised the emergency works would be removed at the end of Level 2 but this decision was overridden by council without any discussion with businesses.

She said "Access for Everyone" is an innovative idea to make the city centre better for people while ensuring traffic can still get about, but it needs to be done well.

"We are flabbergasted that the council is pressing on with the emergency works in the knowledge that businesses on the street have some significant concerns," Beck said in a Herald article today.

Queen St before Auckland Council and Auckland Transport reduced it to one lane each way. Photo / NZ Herald
Queen St before Auckland Council and Auckland Transport reduced it to one lane each way. Photo / NZ Herald

"These concerns relate to the poor quality and unappealing look, safety issues, the impact of closing Fort St.

"I'm sure businesses in nearby Albert St would have some advice for their neighbours in Queen St about trust, respect and delivery after protracted pleas for better management of construction, mess and access during the building of the City Rail Link," said Beck.

Tyler said, weather permitting, the expanded pedestrian area created during the Covid-19 works will be painted to make it clearer to pedestrians that the area is theirs to use.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Covid-19 has placed huge pressures on business, the council and the country. But this is one small opportunity that will allow us to make a very real change for the better," Tyler said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Business

Why Marlborough bach owners face soaring power charges

09 May 04:10 AM
New Zealand

New $28m sport centre opens in Tauranga with family fun day

09 May 04:03 AM
New Zealand

Meet the solo mums who are not single parents

09 May 03:56 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Why Marlborough bach owners face soaring power charges

Why Marlborough bach owners face soaring power charges

09 May 04:10 AM

Marlborough Lines says remote properties can’t access low-user plans.

New $28m sport centre opens in Tauranga with family fun day

New $28m sport centre opens in Tauranga with family fun day

09 May 04:03 AM
Meet the solo mums who are not single parents

Meet the solo mums who are not single parents

09 May 03:56 AM
'How they do it in the West Coast': Man disfigures family dog in drunken attack

'How they do it in the West Coast': Man disfigures family dog in drunken attack

09 May 03:36 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP