KEY POINTS:
North Shore City Council has agreed to keep a buses-only lane and motorway on-ramp from busy Esmonde Rd in Takapuna.
The kerbside bus lane has been "temporary" since 2001, in line with an understanding it would be surrendered to general traffic heading for the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
As
an incentive for car pooling commuters, councillors also want to investigate lane provision for vehicles carrying three or more people.
However, this depends on Transit NZ rethinking its opposition to high-occupancy vehicles sharing the bus on-ramp until the Victoria Park Tunnel is completed - around 2013.
The bus lane was supposed to have been redundant because buses would move to the centre of the road before making right turns into the Akoranga Station on the Northern Busway.
But since the busway opening in February, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority has agreed to run most Takapuna buses via the lane and a bus on-ramp to the motorway.
Mayor Andrew Williams and Councillor Jan O'Connor campaigned for the lane's retention, saying its loss would lengthen the 16-minute trip to town. Ian Clark, of Flow Transportation Specialists, told councillors yesterday that the layout must change because there had been accidents where a kink in the road meant westbound lanes did not line up.
The alternative of removing the bus lane would reduce queues of traffic on the road though slightly increasing travel times for bus patrons.
However, he said, it made sense to have a straighter, bus-only kerbside lane, with a bus-priority phase at the traffic lights. This would help buses cross lanes to reach the station.
Jan O'Connor said that option's improvements meant buses would pick up a further 400 people out of cars before 9.15am.
Yesterday, councillors declined to make a decision on a residents group's call to scrap the cycle lanes on the road between Devonport and Takapuna.
Instead, the council will put off the matter until August when the city's cycle strategy is reviewed.
A petition with 2714 signatures was presented to the infrastructure and environment committee by Dr John Reynolds, of the Cycle Lanes Action Review Association.
Devonport Community Board chairman Mike Cohen said cyclists were happy with the lanes.
He said Lake Rd had been congested for many years.
