He tāone e hāngai ana ki te anamata
Preparing for the future – more choice for more people

These street changes are now complete. The changes are making it safer and easier to walk, catch the bus, ride a bike, or scooter. You can read more about the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā to city street changes, including the  monitoring and evaluation report on these pages. For questions or comments, you can find the Council's contact details here

Ngā panonitanga I Changes at a glance

BG2C route v22x

The route

The changes along these streets will make things safer and easier for everyone – whether you’re walking, riding a bike/scooter, catching the bus or driving.

Impacts
  • New street layouts with separated bike/scooter and bus lanes where they haven’t been before
  • New bike lanes on both sides of Whitmore Street, between the waterfront and Lambton Quay/Bowen Street
  • Uphill bike lane on Bowen Street to Tinakori Road and the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā main entrance
  • Safer and easier for people crossing at The Terrace/Bowen Street intersection
  • Faster and easier bus journeys with a new downhill bus/bike lane between 7am and 10am on Tinakori Road, and full-time on Bowen Street
  • Additional mobility park on Bowen Street, outside the Ministry of Education building
  • On-street coupon and commuter parking significantly reduced. Details of alternative parking options available here.

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Bowen shared lane2x Tinakori Bus stop example2x

Changes for people using the bus

Bus journeys will be quicker and easier coming into the central city.

Impacts
  • New shared bus/bike lane downhill between 7am and 10am on Tinakori Road, and full-time on Bowen Street as far as The Terrace intersection
  • New in-lane bus stops so it’s quicker and easier for buses to pull in and out of traffic

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Bike lanes Copy2x Bike lanes2x

Changes for people riding bikes

These changes will create a connected, protected route between the waterfront and the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā on Tinakori Road (the bottom of Glenmore Street). It will also provide a connection for people biking in from Hutt Road/Thorndon Quay on Featherston Street and up Whitmore to Bowen Street and The Terrace.

Impacts
  • Separated bike lanes on both sides of Whitmore Street between the waterfront and the Lambton Quay/Bowen Street intersection
  • Uphill bike lane on Bowen Street and Tinakori Road to the main Botanic Garden ki Paekākā entrance (at Glenmore Street)
  • Shared bus/bike downhill lane from the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā on Tinakori Road between 7am and 10am and full-time down Bowen Street to The Terrace intersection

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Walking BG2C2x

Changes for people walking

Pedestrian safety and accessibility will be improved.

Impacts
  • New signalised crossing over Bowen Street from the Lambton Quay side of The Terrace (outside The Treasury building)
  • Footpath-height pedestrian crossing over the existing slip lane to Bowen from The Terrace (Reserve Bank side)
  • People on e-scooters will be able to ride in the bike lanes instead of on footpaths

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BG2C drving v22x

Changes for people driving

With more separation between bikes/scooters, buses and general traffic, this route will be safer and easier for drivers.

Impacts
  • New street layout with separated bike and bus lanes where they haven’t been before
  • Bike lanes on both sides of Whitmore Street
  • Uphill bike lane on Bowen Street and Tinakori Road to the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā
  • Shared downhill bike/bus lane on Tinakori Road between 7am and 10am, and full-time on Bowen Street to The Terrace
  • New signalised crossing across Bowen Street at The Terrace/Bowen Street intersection
  • Additional mobility park on Bowen Street, outside Ministry of Education building
  • Coupon parking and clearways removed along Tinakori Road, between the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā and Bowen Street (some short term and residents parking relocated to side streets).
  • Coupon parking and clearways removed on both sides of Bowen Street to Lambton Quay
  • Taxi stand on Whitmore Street relocated to Stout Street
  • No right turn for vehicles into Stout Street from Whitmore Street

Read more about the parking changes and alternative parking options

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When Councillors approved consultation on a connected citywide bike network plan in September 2021, they also voted to get going quickly on two of the critical routes in the bike network - between Newtown and the city and the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā and the city. To accelerate the delivery of these routes, we are using a new approach using adaptable materials so that interim improvements can be installed quickly, so people can start using the routes faster, and then give feedback and help to refine the design once changes have been installed.

Engagement with businesses on the Newtown and Botanic Garden ki Paekākā to city routes started in November 2021.

To develop the design options for improvements along the route, we worked with technical experts, groups in the community and wider stakeholders.

We then took the designs to the public for feedback between 5-26 July 2022 using a public survey and individual conversations with businesses along the route. Over 700 pieces of feedback informed the designs that went out for consultation, and Council analysed 638 pieces of feedback from individuals and 17 organisations about these designs, alongside advice from technical experts and the working group.

On 11 August 2022, the final designs and community feedback went to Pūroro Āmua, Council’s Planning and Environment, where Councillors approved the route with one amendment – extending the peak-hour bus lane by an hour.

You can read a summary feedback report and all public submissions.

A recording of the meeting and minutes are also available on the Council website.  

Data on things like parking use and numbers of people on bikes and buses is being gathered now so we can evaluate the changes in the future.

From the end of 2021, we began engaging with residents and businesses about planned bus and bike improvements along this route.

Following discussions with groups in the community and stakeholders, we changed the initial designs as below:  

To allow for business parking outside of commuter hours, we’ve made the following changes:  

  • On Tinakori Road from the Glenmore Street crossing to Botanic Garden to St Mary’s Street, the bus lane has been changed from full time to commuter hours only (between 7am-9am)  
  • On Bowen Street near the intersection of Tinakori Road before Sydney Street West, the clearway was proposed to be extended to full-time, but this will remain at commuter hours only (between 7am-9am)
  • Changing the Thorndon Residents parking zone boundary to include Patanga Crescent and St Mary Street.
  • Extending the bus stop in the westerly direction on Tinakori Road and removing 1 P120 parking space, and keeping 2 P10 parking spaces outside the antique shop.
  • Relocating taxi stands from Whitmore Street to Stout Street. 
  • Installing a mobility parking space on Bowen Street at The Terrace intersection.  

As part of our engagement, we've worked closely with groups in the community and stakeholders to make changes to the proposed design. 

These groups included: 

  • Accessibility community
  • Businesses along the route
  • Cycle Wellington
  • Fire and Emergency New Zealand
  • Living Streets Aotearoa
  • Metlink
  • Ministry of Education
  • NZ Bus
  • Taxi companies
  • Thorndon Residents Association
  • Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

Evaluating the changes

Once changes have been installed, we’ll be monitoring and evaluating community feedback, local economic data, travel times for buses and traffic and use of short-term parking and loading zones. 

Longer term, we’ll be tracking things like numbers of people riding bikes and taking the bus, diversity of people on bikes (age and gender), whether more people think the changes are positive, and kilometres of infrastructure installed per year and how long it takes to get things in.

Find out more

You can read the full set of plans and traffic resolution

Find out more and read the full set of plans and traffic resolution for the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā to city project.

View the plans and read the traffic resolution - TR 134-22

Webinars

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In this webinar (recorded on 15 March) you can meet the team and learn about important street changes that are part of the city's goal to be a net zero carbon capital by 2050. We talk you through two projects - Newtown to the city and the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā to the city. The Council's City Design Manager, Vida Christeller, and project lead Renee Corlett share information about the designs and when the changes will happen. The webinar includes a question and answer session, how you can provide feedback on the street changes once they're made and how to keep in contact with the project team.

In this webinar (recorded on 2 June) we talk you through the new bus stop platforms for the Newtown to the city and the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā to the city projects. The webinar includes a question and answer session with panellists from Wellington City Council, Waka Kotahi, Metlink, Zicla and International Design for All. 

Tinakori Road

A new bus stop platform and uphill bike lane on Tinakori Road. View towards the Botanic Garden Ki Paekākā entrance.

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Bowen Street

Shared downhill bike and bus lane and a separated uphill bike lane on Bowen Street (at the corner of Ballantrae Street). View toward the city.

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Bowen Street

Separated uphill bike lane with a shared bike and bus lane downhill on Bowen Street (near The Terrace). View towards Tinakori Road and the Botanic Garden ki Paekākā.

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Whitmore Street

Separated bike lanes on both sides of the road on Whitmore Street (near Stout Street). View towards the waterfront. 

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