Auckland Northern BuswayProviding an attractive alternative to private vehicle use

Aurecon was New Zealand Transport Agency’s North Sector consultant for the design and construction monitoring of this capital works project linking North Shore City with Auckland’s CBD.

Built specifically for buses, emergency and maintenance vehicles, the 8.4 km busway consists mostly of a dedicated two-lane, two-way roadway, with two major park and ride stations and three on-line stations.

Improving journey times

The purpose of the busway was to improve journey times, reliability and comfort thereby providing an attractive alternative to private vehicle use. 

Aurecon’s project scope covered most of the busway itself, the two park and ride stations as well as two of the on-line stations. The design required innovative geometric and structural solutions to comply with tight designation and resource consent constraints.

There were also significant project challenges, including a 360 m long viaduct at Tristram Avenue Interchange. In many locations, poor ground conditions required the use of ground improvement techniques and economic assessment of various structural solutions before final bridge lengths were determined. A value engineering exercise was undertaken in conjunction with the contractor to determine the most cost effective beam number and span length configuration to suit material availability and construction methods. 

The park and ride stations were designed to manage multi modal conflicts between buses, general traffic, high occupancy vehicles and pedestrians, while maximising operational and functional requirements. Topographical challenges were significant, requiring large retaining walls utilising various methods of construction including bored pile, gabions, timber pole, mass block, and keystone.

The project has been a great success, contributing significantly to an increase in the use of public transport in Auckland and delivering economic, environmental and social benefits. Delivery of the project demonstrated excellent collaboration between many organisations resulting in numerous industry awards.