An oppotunity to fly sky high!
Watching the Melbourne's Level Crossing Removal project video's on YouTube, and hearing about the upcoming removals in Auckland, I started floating some ideas around.
To piggy-back off my good friend and author of NZ Transit Buzz,
, it’s time to visit some more idea’s for Level Crossing Removals in Auckland.With the only level crossing’s closed so far being Pedestrian Crossings, and in stark comparision with the likes Melbourne, Auckland’s level crossing’s remain to be some not so easy infrastructure to just uproot and change the way things are, but by moving different elements into the sky, there can be more space for communities to expand.
Out at the Baldwin Avenue train station, surrounded by the affluent suburbs of Mount Albert & Saint Luke’s and the Chamberlain Park, this station is named for one of it’s many access roads, Baldwin Avenue to it’s south-eastern corner.
Elevating the North Auckland Line just after the Saint Lukes Road overbridge, the new flyover would cross both Asquith Avenue and Rossgrove Terrace, creating a brand new station, opening up the former to a new cycleway connection and intergrated bus stops to allow for a new bus service, the 662, to serve the station intake area.
This will remove the crossing at both Asquith Avenue and Rossgrove Terrace and the pedestrian crossing at the western end of the station, but will open up the space below where the station will go, or where the station used to be, to be used for Public Inititives, or community shared spaces such as a Cycleway and Public Transport connections. Buses would serve two new stops on Asquith Avenue situated below the western end of the station, with access’ to both stops.
Another cool oppotunity could be to open up the station design process to the likes of local school’s and get students involved with the process and using the station/services upon the completion. Aswell as leaving space to increase station capacity for longer trains, while retaining it’s affulence of the surrounding suburbs.
Heading west out to Rānui, where the North Auckland Line slowly meets the Waitakere Ranges, this station is connected by three bus services and surrounded by housing and a couple of reserves.
Rising up just after the curve behind the current Kinetic Depot along Swanson Road, the flyover follows the North Auckland Line alignment straight along to Metcalfe Road, then crossing Metcalfe Road, before dropping back down before the curve past Rānui Domain.
Particularly useful in this area is the reserve area off to the left, which could be used to hold another Train Stabiling Facility (TSF) or Distributed Stabiling Facility (DSF), aswell as opening up the station to expansion for longer trains or community use, via access to the land.
Removing the crossing at Metcalfe Road allows the road to remain, and because of the amount of space, this project could be completed in a section by section or half by half idea. Again community engagement with the station’s design process will help procure the stations usage when City Rail Link opens. Aswell, the space below the station could be used for a new integrated bus interchange, additionally more lines could be added to allow bypassing or for stabiling.
I have ideas on how to eliminate the Level crossings along the Onehunga Branch, but I feel that a seperate post will be benefictial to lay out all ideas that are possible, so keep an eye out for that!
