Vision for Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley
What we aim to do
- Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley to become central zone of the Access for Everyone (A4E) concept, prioritising pedestrians.
- Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley to remain vital to the regional and national economy and be the location of choice for national and international head offices.
- Albert Street to emerge as a new complementary commercial address to Queen Street and Shortland Street.
- Central Auckland to become increasingly accessible at a regional and local scale.
- Low-emission zone in Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley, delivered via traffic removal.
- Improve connectivity between Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley and surrounding city centre quarters.
- Completion of extensive laneway circuit, delivering pedestrian priority to city centre streets.
Why we want to do this
The success of the Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley is critical to Auckland’s and New Zealand’s economy.
In central Auckland, commerce (national and international trade, finance, property, investment and legal services) shares the area with primary retail, creating a distinctly Auckland downtown.
Over the past decade, Queen Street has developed as the spine of an increasingly busy, culturally-rich city centre. Much of the city centre’s economic activity (approximately $21.2 billion per annum) is concentrated here and it forms the densest job centre in New Zealand.
Future transport improvements including City Rail Link (CRL) and public realm upgrades will provide many more people with access to the heart of the city centre. Alongside this, due to air quality concerns and Auckland’s climate change, we have focussed attention on fossil-fuelled vehicles in the city centre.
As central Auckland evolves, so does the Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley. This move will strengthen its role as an accessible, attractive economic heart of the city.
Queen Street explained
A vibrant pedestrian priority shopping street at the heart of Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley - Queen Street will support centre-running transit (starting with buses) and become the centrepiece of a greatly expanded pedestrian priority and low emissions zone:
- Pedestrian streets, laneways and spaces are expanded and enhanced across the Queen Street Valley.
- Plentiful bike and scooter parking at transit stops for ease of first/last mile trips.
- Centre-running light rail service with high capacity, high quality passenger stops at Aotea and Downtown.
- Enhanced air quality through traffic reduction and restrictions on vehicle type and size.
- Total mobility users allowed access for pick ups/ drop-off at all times.
- Overnight delivery and servicing (vehicles restricted by vehicle size and type to transition to zero emission zone).
- New public space at pedestrianised intersection with secondary side streets.
- Vehicle turnaround with taxi/ ride-share zone prioritised at secondary side streets.
- Electric Little Frequent Vehicles (ELFs) allowed access for public transport accessibility services and street services such as green waste collection.
- Centralised underground waste collection chambers to provide greater capacity and reduce frequency of collection truck trips.
- Cycling and micro-mobility modes supported through dedicated lanes or reduced traffic, slower speeds, more space and level surface design.
- Wider pedestrian movement zone to accommodate future growth in walking.
- People able to move more freely between predictable, steady-moving transit vehicles supporting vibrant two-sided retail street.
