Pay and display goes to Western Reclamation and Quay Park areas to improve parking turnover

Auckland City Council’s transport committee has approved the installation of pay and display management of parking in the Western Reclamation and Quay Park areas of the Central Area.

This initiative was set out in the Central Area Parking Policy, approved in June 1999, in an effort to limit traffic flows at peak periods.

The main issue is the need to ensure an appropriate supply of parking to meet the needs of activities within the Western Reclamation and Quay Park.

Over the recent years, increased retail-type activities have developed in the Western Reclamation area, creating a need for additional parking spaces. The council has been regularly improving parking management to meet the demand. It recognises the workers’ parking needs in this area and proposes to leave some unrestricted areas to allow all day parking due to reduced passenger transport services in the Western Reclamation.

Councillor Greg McKeown, Transport Committee chairperson, said that he was keen to ensure that a mix of parking options, including some free on street parking, remained in the Western Reclamation area at this time.

“Parking meters have a place in the area, but at the same time I wanted to ensure that consideration was given to workers in the area,” he said.

“The Western Reclamation and Quay Park areas have a need for improved parking management to better reflect their current and future parking needs,” says Mr McKeown.

Time restrictions are already applied to the majority of on street parking spaces in these areas. The current proposal involves installing 85 additional pay and display machines to ensure appropriate parking turnover in these areas. They have proven to be a most effective parking management tool and now operate throughout most of the Central Area and some suburban centres.

In the Western Reclamation, 66 pay and display machines will be installed in the area bounded by and including Westhaven Drive and Halsey Street but excluding Fanshawe and Madden streets.

A tariff of $1 per hour will apply for this area with time restrictions from P60 - P240 to match projected demands.

Additional time restrictions are proposed from Jellicoe Street south with Hamer and Brigham streets remaining mainly unrestricted.

Nineteen pay and display machines will be installed between Quay Street and Beach Road. A tariff of $2 per hour will be applied there with time restrictions of P60 – P120.

For both areas, bus stops, P15 and goods loading zones will probably remain as they are.

The pay and display machines will increase space availability by limiting commuter parking demands at peak periods. They will be installed between April and May 2003.

The changing demand will better match peak hour traffic flows to road network capacity and encourage public transport.

An additional on street objective is to prioritise the use of Central Area kerbside space, providing first priority to the movement of people and commercial vehicles, then passenger transport stops, parking for disabled persons, servicing of businesses and short term parking.

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