Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) & Auckland Council Midtown Team
Community Liaison Group Meeting - Minutes
28 February 2023
DATE Tuesday 28 February 2023
TIME 4.00pm – 5 30pm
LOCATION Caffe Greco, Wyndham Street
ATTENDEES
Link Alliance
Matt Sinclair – Station Manager
Shaun Sutton – Community Manager
Nicole Borland – Development Response Manager
Diana Toki-Hu – Communications & Engagement Advisor
Patrick Gibbs – Project Engineer Streetscapes
Carl Hewitson-Townley – Engineering Manager Streetscapes
Rachel Blundell – Head of Communications & Engagement
Jason Haggerty – Environmental Advisor
Auckland Council
Oliver Smith – Auckland Council Delivery Manager
Natalie Hansby – Auckland Council Development Response Manager
Phillipa White – Crisp Communications
Tam White – Auckland Council Senior Governance & Relationship Advisor
Ben Maw – Programme Manager, Development Response
Alexandra Bonham – Local Board Member (Waitematā LB)
Richard Northey – Local Board Member (Waitematā LB)
Attendees:
James Wickham (AT)
Graeme Gunthorp (AT)
Viv Beck (HOTC)
Bruce (Mexican Café)
JD (Victoria St News Agency)
Anna and Annie (Natural Health)
Jugdish (Roma Blooms Florist)
Colm (Fiddler Irish Bar)
Khris (Meet Balls Restaurant)
Vicky and Cindy (Manhattan Apartments)
Kerry & William (139 Vincent St)
Agenda
1. Intro (Shaun Sutton)
2. Te Waihorotiu Station construction progress (Matt Sinclair)
3. Streetscape works (Patrick Gibbs & Nicole Borland)
4. Te Hā Noa update (Oliver Smith & Ben Maw)
5. One to one meetings with project managers
Presentation
Presentation from Link Alliance and Auckland Council attached.
No Item Discussion
1. Welcome / Intro Welcome and update of recent community supports and activations such as small business and resident underground tours, and the new "Win Win Wednesday” competition. The station was also able to open up all of Victoria Street for NYE for the public to watch SkyCity fireworks and support local businesses.
The focus now at surface level is the big shift to streetscape work. In some areas, hoardings have already come down and public areas widened. In other areas, work is set to get underway shortly.
2. Te Waihorotiu Station construction update
- See attached presentation for comprehensive photos
- Note also a drone tour of the station has been released – see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfzn4IvpoEI
- Wellesley superstructure exterior concrete panels are complete and watertight – louvres to be attached second half of this year.
- Interior steel ventilation frames, cable trays & ducting are being installed and progressing well
- Water sprinkler system for fire emergencies is being installed currently
- Rail track installation in Te Waihorotiu Station will begin in May
- Escalator pits in platform level have been installed to eventually house the base of escalators coming from the passenger concourse level
- 98% of station concrete works are now completed
- During the Friday of the Auckland Anniversary weekend storm, flooding into the Te Waihorotiu station tunnels from Maungawhau / Mt Eden and Karanga-a-Hape Stations occurred. The station team worked over the weekend to pump out most of the water out of the underground station and into the water treatment plants and storm water pipes.
- During Cyclone Gabrielle, hoarding panels at the top of Victoria Street were blown over and since replaced with construction fencing. The site was closed on Tuesday for two days for the safety of staff.
- The main goal of streetscape this year is having Victoria Street open to traffic at approximately the end of 2023, before moving works to Wellesley & Albert Streets for completion works in 2024.
- The Bluestone Wall will be re-instated end of the year – traffic diversions will be in place at times but access always maintained to property.
- Construction hours are generally Monday to Saturday 7am – 7pm however there may be night works when concrete pours are required – this will enable continues access to businesses.
Phases
- See attached presentation for a detailed overview of the five streetscape construction phases.
Support for Stakeholders
- We always plan to maintain access to businesses and residents, and will continue to work closely with all stakeholders throughout the process. Several and frequent pedestrian diversions will be required.
- Te Waihorotiu streetscape works are at least 4x the size of C2 on Albert Street – this is a significant project and hence the time periods involved to completion.
- The Link Alliance Small Business Support Programme will be available later in the year.
- The station team have also recent started a “Win Win Wednesday” campaign to encourage repeat customers. All businesses are invited to participate and we will be in touch.
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- Key points include that streetscape improvements mean better spaces for all people.
- Auckland Council assured attendees that businesses and residents will be able to operate and pedestrians will be able to navigate through the construction. There will be care taken of the area to ensure that they are clean, safe and tidy – including working with other agencies such as Heart of the City.
- Following the November 2022 CLG, Auckland Transport and Auckland Council have provided a response about emergency vehicle access once the Victoria St upgrade is complete (and reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction). See this response in appendix to these minutes.
3. Streetscape works Overview 4. Te Hā Noa –Auckland Council See attached presentation for comprehensive information.5. Q&A / discussion points
- Loading zones post-construction completion dominated the discussion. Several attendees felt not enough consideration / provision has been given to ensure businesses and residents can load/unload/service their properties – across both Link Alliance and Te Hā Noa areas. Attendees commented that loading zones must be close enough to businesses, to account for heavy goods and elderly business operators / residents.
- Graeme Gunthorp from Auckland Transport provided an overview of the work underway, which is taking a holistic approach across midtown and city centre, but also looking at block-by-block opportunities to add loading capacity. This is an ongoing programme of work and an update can be provided at the next CLG.
- Attendees then broke into smaller groups to continue the discussion.
Next Steps
- Minutes will be uploaded to CRL website and circulated to relevant organisations, including Auckland Transport with regards to loading zone capacity and locations.
- The team will be in touch with affected stakeholders as soon as further information and details are available regarding the next stages of the 2023 streetscape works
- Underground tours for stakeholders still on offer – please contact us if you’d like to look around the station.
Emergency Services – Victoria Street access
27 February 2023 – response from Auckland Transport and Auckland Council
At the CRL Community Liaison Group meeting on the 29 November 2022, we heard people’s concerns regarding access for emergency services in the city centre. In particular, there was a concern that reducing Victoria Street to two lanes of general traffic would limit the ability of emergency services to access homes and businesses quickly if needed.
We agree that maintaining effective fire and emergency vehicle access at all times is critical and we have worked with the emergency services so they can still get around the new road layouts effectively.
Engagement with emergency services is embedded in the council group’s approach to management of the roading network and as we plan for street upgrades and roading changes, we have sought feedback from them. The designs for Victoria Street have been checked and provide for emergency service access.
In addition, we have regular discussions with emergency services, from project level detail to wider network operations, including the way traffic signals are operated.
Auckland Transport works closely with Fire and Emergency NZ, Police and other agencies to ensure that emergency vehicles can reach their destinations within target times, such as access to Auckland Hospital and the motorway network.
Efficient access for emergency services is supported by identifying and protecting key lifeline routes, and actively supporting emergency vehicles to move through the city. When there’s a 111 emergency, operators contact the Auckland Transport Operation Centre (ATOC) directly to provide support, through things like live traffic monitoring, helping responders navigate around any traffic, controlling traffic lights, and diverting bus services as required.
Access for emergency services is also a key consideration when Auckland Transport considers temporary traffic management arrangements for construction, and the details are shared with emergency services so they can respond accordingly.
We hope this update addresses your concerns and provides the assurance that the city centre developments are compatible with emergency services response needs.