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The extension of Ōrewa Boulevard is to eat up almost all of the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board’s $2.5m transport capital fund (a pot of money allocated for local transport projects).
Members gave the final seal of approval to funding for Stage 3 of the project at their business meeting on August 19, held via Skype.
It continues the work completed by the former Rodney District Council that upgraded Hibiscus Coast Highway from Moana Ave to Riverside Road, and slowed traffic.
Stage 3 extends the boulevard to Empire Road. It aims to connect the beach, shops, and reserve and includes a shared path on the beach side of the highway and a brick paved footpath on the other side.
Parallel parking on the beach side will be changed to angled parking, with a gain of seven carparks. Two pedestrian crossings will become raised zebra crossings for pedestrians and cyclists.
The school bus stop outside the shops at 280 Hibiscus Coast Highway will be relocated to 6 Riverside Road and Intercity buses will be relocated to 288 Hibiscus Coast Highway. The Intercity bus stop on the beach side will be relocated opposite 260 Hibiscus Coast Highway.
The local board agreed to fund the work based on Auckland Transport’s latest detailed design cost estimate of $1.8m (HM July 14).
It came out as the top priority for funding because a lot of work has already been done, including design and public consultation.
This leaves the local board around $700,000 to spend on transport related work in the Bays subdivision.
Work was expected to start in October or November, but could be delayed by the changes in Covid-19 Alert levels.
Member Janet Fitzgerald says it will be important not to disrupt businesses if the work takes place over summer.
