A city fit for the future

We’re rebalancing our existing street space to make it safer and easier for people to walk, ride, scooter, or use public transport. The Thorndon connections project will be part of connecting Thorndon and Wadestown to the city, making it safer and easier for more people to walk, bike/scoot or use public transport.

The most important connections

Thorndon has a special character, rich in history and heritage. The area is home to our parliamentary precinct, the Wellington Cathedral, and the routes we’re looking at connect to many large employers as well as primary schools, high schools, and Victoria University of Wellington campuses.  

Thorndon and the Tinakori Village are just a short five-minute ride from the central city, and an easy walking distance from the train station and bus terminal.

To make it easier for more people to use low carbon transport options to get to, around and through Thorndon, and make it a nicer place to visit and live, we’re proposing to use adaptable materials to install:

  • New separated bike lanes
  • New raised pedestrian crossings
  • New car share spaces
  • New mobility car parks
  • Bike parking, seats, and planters in Tinakori Village
  • Extending the 30km/h safer speed zone through Tinakori Village to Botanic Garden and down Hill Street
  • Removing two bus stops to improve bus travel times
  • Better provision for school pick-up and drop-off car parks
  • Removing some on-street parking in the area

Overall, the changes along these streets will make things safer and easier for people getting around this area and provide more options for how people can get to and from work, school, or tertiary study, drop kids at day care, visit local shops, churches, and businesses, or live in the area without needing to own a car.

How to be involved

Outline of four phases to project feedback - demonstrates we are asking for public feedback through consultation before Councillors make a decision

We’ve worked with technical experts and met with key stakeholders and businesses along the affected streets to help inform the proposed changes for this route.  

Consultation on these proposed changes was open from Monday 6 March until 5pm Monday 27 March to help us understand how the changes could impact you and the wider community.  

We will take the feedback we received on the project and the proposed changes to Councillors for approval in May. If approved by Council, work to install the changes would likely begin in August 2023. 

If the proposed changes are approved and installed, we will be gathering feedback and data on how it’s going, so we can improve things such as signs, street markings, and parking.

View the project details

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Wellington is expected to grow over the next 30 years, which will dramatically affect the way our city looks, feels, and operates. If we continue at our current rate of car use, our transport network will grind to a halt.  

Our goal is to be a city where people of all ages and abilities can move easily and freely by foot, bike, scooter or public transport. These essential street changes will make it easier for more of us to be less reliant on our cars. 

We’re proposing to rebalance our existing street space to make it safer and easier for people to walk, ride, scooter, or use public transport. The transport changes we’re developing will take time to get used to, but we need to adapt to make sure we can still get around.  

Paneke Pōneke is Wellington's citywide bike network plan that will be delivered alongside improvements for people walking, scooting, and taking the bus. 

On 23 September 2021, Councillors gave approval to consult on a connected citywide bike network that will make streets safer and healthier for everyone.  

Officers had been asked to look at how the delivery of a bike network could be accelerated, and a new approach was developed to deliver the proposed routes faster.  

The transitional programme approach uses adaptable materials so that interim improvements can be installed quickly, so people can start using the routes faster, and then give feedback so the route changes can be refined further for future permanent improvements. 

This new approach and the full bike network plan, Paneke Pōneke, went out for consultation in November 2021, and was approved by Councillors on 10 March 2022. 

Through Paneke Pōneke and the Bus Priority Action Plan, the transitional programme is rebalancing how we use our existing street space to give people more options for how they get around.  

These changes will make it easier for people on bikes, scooters, and buses to move safely around the city. 

We first consulted on routes in Kilbirnie in 2018 as part of a wider eastern connections project. Several routes were completed following that consultation including Crawford Road, the Kilbirnie end of Evans Bay Parade, Rongotai Road, and Te Whiti Street.