The completion of the busway has brought considerable improvements to passenger transport connections to the Auckland Central Business District (CBD) and demonstrates the region's commitment to sustainable transport.
Opened on 3 February 2008, the Northern Busway is a two-way purpose built busway designed to allow priority traffic, primarily buses, to bypass the motorway system and increase the person-carrying capacity of the north bound motorway SH1. It runs along the eastern side of the motorway in an 8.7km stretch from Constellation Drive in the north to just before Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Beca was engaged with Opus Consultants to provide detailed design for the southern sector of the project, which involved a multi-disciplinary team providing services in:
- planning – resource consenting
- community and agency consultation
- geotechnical engineering
- civil engineering – roading and stormwater lighting and services interface design
- environmental management plans
- structural engineering – bridge and retaining wall structures
- tender and contract documentation
- project budget development, risk assessment, tender assessment
- urban design.
Features of the project included dedicated two-lane, two-carriageway, four busway stations plus park and ride facilities, and the reconstruction of the Esmonde Road and Onewa Road interchanges. The work involved new structures - bridges, retaining walls, culverts and underpasses, and widening existing bridges, realigning roads, and constructing new off/on ramps.
Environmental issues were important. Beca prepared environmental reports to support several consent applications and for public consultation. One key requirement was protecting and relocating breeding and nesting sites of the protected New Zealand bird, the dotterel.
The completion of the busway has brought considerable improvements to passenger transport connections to the Auckland Central Business District (CBD) and demonstrates Auckland's commitment to sustainable transport.
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