Wellington City Council

Bunny Street Connection

Connecting the places where people want to go

Making it easier for everyone to move around in our growing city 

Reducing our emissions from road transport 

An adult and a child ride bikes along a marked bike lane on a Wellington city street, with trees and colourful murals in the background.

Upcoming Bunny Street Connection consultation

The Bunny Street Connection consultation will run from 13 July to 3 August. All information pertaining to this consultation will go live on 13 July. We look forward to hearing from you during the consultation period. 

You can receive updates about this project by signing up to the cross-city bike connections mailing list.

Projects  > Bunny Street Connection

 

Bunny Street Connection
Improving the connection from Thorndon Quay cycleway to Lady Elizabeth Lane   

Wellington City Council is progressing a key missing link that will help connect the route from the north, making it safer and easier for people walking and biking to move between Thorndon Quay and the northern end of Lady Elizabeth Lane. The proposed improvements will complete a connection from the new Thorndon Quay cycleway and provide a more direct, comfortable, and safer option for people arriving from or heading towards the Hutt Valley, the waterfront, and central city destinations. It will also improve the pedestrian experience around one of Wellington’s busiest gateways. 

Te Ara Tupua opened recently and has significantly increased the number of people riding between the Hutt Valley and Wellington. By 2031, about 2,500 people each weekday is expected to bike or scoot between the Hutt and the city, compared with around 700 in 2024. 

With new cycle routes now complete from the south, west, and north — and the eastern connection almost complete — Wellington is preparing for a substantial increase in people cycling into and around the city. 

Currently there is no clear or safe cycling route to and from Lady Elizabeth Lane via Bunny Street and across Waterloo Quay. Northbound riders are required to mix with faster-moving vehicles or pedestrians, and there is no logical connection to the new Thorndon Quay cycleway.

The crash history of this street illustrates that making improvements will create safety benefits for all users:

  • Bunny Street has recorded 61 crashes in the past ten years, with 16% involving people on bikes and 10% involving pedestrians.
  • These include 6 cyclist–car crashes, 1 cyclist–pedestrian crash, and 3 cyclist-only incidents.
  • Pedestrian safety issues are evident in 8 pedestrian–car crashes and 1 pedestrian-only incident.
  • Motor vehicle conflicts dominate overall crash numbers, with 41 private vehicle incidents, 2 car–bus crashes, and 4 motorcycle or moped–car crashes, highlighting the safety risks created by the current street layout for all users, particularly vulnerable road users.

Decorative image showing a large group of pedestrians crossing Bunny Street

The Bunny Street Connection aims to

  • Provide a safer, more coherent link between the Thorndon Quay cycleway, the railway station, and the waterfront.
  • Make it safer and easier to walk into and out of the railway station through slower vehicle speeds, clearer layouts, and a raised pedestrian platform.
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This project is part of the wider Cross-City Bike Connections project which will complete missing gaps in the Wellington bike network in the central city. Cycling and scooting facilities in the central city were originally part of Let’s Get Wellington Moving packages but were returned to Council responsibility as part of the 2024-2034 LTP Amendment process. 

The streets within scope of Cross-City Bike Connections are part of Wellington’s bike network plan, Paneke Pōneke, which was consulted on in November 2021, and was approved by Councillors on 10 March 2022.