Plan outlines steps to improve travel options within North Harbour Industrial Estate

June 13, 2006

Key stakeholders have finalised a travel demand implementation plan to tackle traffic issues within the North Harbour Industrial Estate in Albany - the first such plan in New Zealand.

The plan has been prepared following input from the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA), North Shore City Council, Transit New Zealand, Enterprise North Shore, the Albany Basin Business Association (ABBA), local schools, North Harbour Hockey, the Albany Community Board and emergency services.

The plan takes on board feedback from more than 500 groups and individuals responding to last year's comprehensive travel study, and is designed to provide commuters with a greater range of travel choices to and from the estate.

ABBA representative Gray Pearson says 20 initiatives are detailed in the plan to offer commuters better travel options. Details include:

* Through its next service review, ARTA will seek to significantly improve the number of buses and routes travelling through the area.

* North Shore City Council will investigate options to introduce special lanes at key bottleneck points to give priority in the afternoon peak to buses, couriers and cars with three or more passengers.

* The stakeholder group is looking at ways and means of employing a Travel Management Association co-ordinator for the area to ensure improvements are implemented in a timely and efficient manner.

North Shore City's group manager of transport strategy and planning, Archer Davis, says the implementation plan, combined with ongoing community liaison, is a significant step in the right direction.

"We now have a game plan which all parties have adopted. It won't offer overnight solutions to congestion problems, but it does allow us all to work with focus and determination towards implementing improvements," says Mr Davis.

This is the first time a travel demand strategy has covered a commercial area in New Zealand. The study area is contained within State Highway 1, State Highway 18, the Albany Highway, and Rosedale Rd.

ENDS

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