A while ago, we introduced you to the new moves of the Queen of Uptown (also known by her slightly more prosaic name, Upper Queen Street Bridge).
Now, as part of her extreme makeover, she will go on a major “road diet”, and it has been confirmed that she is losing TWO traffic lanes and one car parking lane. And she’s putting it all into walking & cycling instead. Combined footpath & dedicated cycle path space is now 13m! Compared to 12.4m for motor vehicles! Active modes now get more space than fossil fuel ones. Plus twice 0.8m to buffer cyclists from motorists.
Since the latest version of the plan was made public by Local Board member Christopher Dempsey, we can now also discuss the fact that the slip lane at the intersection Canada Street / Upper Queen Street also seems to be removed. That’s two slip lanes gone in one project.
We are not sure whether the plan is the final-final version, but with construction works not more than 1-2 months off, the fact that the plans are getting MORE ambitious than they were a month ago is a great sign.
Minor pinches of sad in our soup: No “Barnes Dance crossings”, and no western-side Ian McKinnon cycleway or cycle lane yet (though ranked highly in AT’s priority list, BTW). But these are relatively easy to fit in later, now that one of our main city gateways is getting such a major transformation.
Well done to all at NZTA, Auckland Transport and Auckland Council involved!
