Great North Rd is getting a cycleway. Eleven years after the idea was proposed and eight years after plans were drawn up, the board of Auckland Transport (AT) today approved a street improvements plan for the Grey Lynn section of the road.

The project stretches from the intersection with Ponsonby Rd to the Grey Lynn shops, in an area that has several new multi-storey buildings, with more planned. The residential, office and retail uses of the street are all growing fast.

There will be more planting, safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, better bus stops, dynamic bus lanes and dedicated cycle lanes. Safety at intersections will be improved. More than 100 car parks on the main road will disappear.

The budget is $28.1 million, plus another $3.3m for stormwater work. The Government’s transport agency, Waka Kotahi, is contributing $12.5m and the work is expected to take about 18 months.

AT has already budgeted for part of the project and today’s decision means it will have to revise its spending so it can find the remaining amount from elsewhere.

Board members voted 6-2 in favour. Auckland Council’s representatives, councillors Mike Lee and Andy Baker, were the only ones to vote against.

In March this year, AT chairman Wayne Donnelly presented the plan to Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee. “If there was any part of Auckland to grow cycling,” he said, “you’d pick this one. If we don’t support good safe cycling infrastructure in this district, where would we do it?”

The council left it to individual councillors to advise the AT board what they thought. The board papers show that most councillors expressed their support for the project.

Donnelly reminded the meeting today the proposal has been widely consulted on three times, and modified as a result of community feedback and cost constraints.

He noted that Mayor Wayne Brown has expressed concern about the cost of cycleways and that new, cheaper options were proposed. “But,” he said, “my conclusion is that there is not a low-cost option that adequately addresses all the purposes of the project.”

The mayor had earlier suggested that cyclists could share the footpath with pedestrians.

Other board members echoed Donnelly’s sentiments. Nicole Rosie, who sits on the board as chief executive of Waka Kotahi, said children and young people were the fastest-growing section of the Auckland population, followed by the elderly.

Cycleway and safer streets advocates at the Auckland Transport board meeting. Photo / Michael Craig

Both groups require better safety on our roads if they are to “live a good life in the community”, she said, and this project would help deliver that.

“When we give dominance to road traffic we forget those groups,” she said.

Kylie Clegg said AT was “trying to create a modern and liveable city. We want to show people what that could look like.” She talked about the importance of “giving everyone choices”, especially so close to the central city.

“The biggest thing for me is safety,” she said, “especially safety for our kids walking and cycling to school.”

Two schools are on the route, along with three preschool centres, but the road is also busy with buses, commuter traffic and car carriers servicing the car yards on Great North Rd.

Clegg also noted that while the project is “not all about cycleways, you only have to look at our board papers to see we have been consistently under-delivering on them”.

Mark Darrow said the project has “majority support from the community, and from the councillors”. He added that the project would link to the City Rail Link, which will have a station on Karangahape Rd, near the top end of Great North Rd.

“We can’t keep sitting on the sidelines and kicking for touch,” he said.

Raveen Jaduram, the former chief executive of Watercare who has been newly appointed to the board, said the same. “It seems we have been dithering on this for a long time. We need to provide safety for children and pedestrians. The area is growing fast and is close to city.”

He suggested they should approve the project and instruct the management to find ways to procure it at a lower cost.

Mike Lee opposed the plan because he believed the community was divided and it should be possible for cyclists to share the existing footpaths with pedestrians.

Councillor Mike Lee at the Auckland Transport board meeting. Photo / Michael Craig

Andy Baker said he was in “a tricky spot”. He had consistently voted against the plan, but not because he opposed the aims. Rather, “I don’t believe it goes far enough”.

The proposal is a scaled-back version of the 2015 original, which included more planting, intersection controls and other features.

Earlier, the meeting heard from representatives of the Grey Lynn Residents Association, the Grey Lynn Business Association and Newton School. All supported the project.

Brandon Wilcox from the residents’ group said they would have liked an even better plan. “But we have to be realistic and recognise we don’t always get what we want. There are budget constraints. Perfect must not be the enemy of good.”

There had been “noisy opposition”, he said. “But the noise being heard is from a few disaffected people.”

He urged the board to listen to the whole community, reminding them that 44 organisations had “publicly stated their support and want this project done now”.

Two opponents of the project interjected repeatedly throughout the meeting.

The work is expected to begin this year and take about 18 months.

Simon Wilson is a senior writer covering politics, the climate crisis, transport, housing, urban design and social issues, with a focus on Auckland. He joined the Herald in 2018.