The Rodney Local Board celebrated the successful completion of the Warkworth Community Transport Hub which will open fully for business later this year.
Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, Rodney Local Board members, Auckland Council staff, Auckland Transport staff, Higgins and the Warkworth community attended the official opening. The ceremony included a karakia and whakawātea conducted by Kaumatua Carmen Hetaraka, the planting of a puriri tree with the sod from the project’s earthworks and cutting the ribbon to open the hub.
Funded by the Rodney Local Board Transport Targeted Rate and delivered by Auckland Transport, the Hub provides a central space for bus commuters needing to park their cars or bikes, before travelling north to Wellsford, and to Warkworth township for connections to Matakana and the Kowhai Coast, and south to connect to the Northern Busway and Auckland destinations.
Local Board Deputy Chair Beth Houlbrooke says the new facility will free up car parks currently used by commuters in the Warkworth township for shoppers and business use and provide overflow parking for locals utilising sports and recreation options at the adjacent Warkworth Showgrounds on the weekends.
“An increasing number of residents and ratepayers are taking advantage of local public transport services to get around, and this new facility will make it easier for them to park and ride,” she says.
The Warkworth Community Transport Hub at 80 Great North Road features:
- 137 car parks, including 15 short term and four accessible parking
- a bus layover
- two immediately adjacent bus stops on Great North Road
- footpaths
- a signalised pedestrian crossing across Great North Road
- two toilet blocks
- bike parking
- lighting, and
- CCTV security.
One Mahurangi Business Association co-chair Dave Stott says the new hub facility is multi-faceted and will relieve the pressure on town parking.
“People working in Auckland will have all-day parking at the hub and that frees up the town’s retail parking. Over time, people may decide to park here and hop on a bus to go shopping. Buses on layovers will also park here instead of in town. If people embrace these changes and use the hub that will further ease congestion in town.”
Ms Houlbrooke says she’s delighted with the result.
“The project cost far less than the $5 million originally budgeted for and provides the community with an asset they can use for many years to come.”
The Warkworth Community Transport Hub cost $3.7 million to design and construct and is sited on land owned by the local board and previously utilised by a works depot.
The Hub will be fully open for business when the two adjacent bus stops and crossing are operational. This is dependent on the NX2 Group completing works in the immediate area.
Local bus users will not notice any difference to current bus timetables. The 998 service between Warkworth and Wellsford will include the Transport Hub along its route, and the 995 bus between Warkworth and Hibiscus Coast Station in Silverdale will extend its route to include the new facility later in 2022. The Kowhai Coast bus service routes will remain the same until the Matakana link road route is open to the public.
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