Ready for service - Western Express bus stop progress
A quick tiki tour around the new stops constructed for the Western Express at Te Atatū and Lincoln Road as well as the stops under construction at Westgate.
As Tāmaki Makaurau expands so must the cities' bus routes, This means phasing out some single-seat journeys in favour of a more connected bus network and transfer trips to get from A to B.
This will be one of the biggest changes for West Auckland’s bus network since the 2017 ‘New Network’ shakeup.
On November 12 several routes across West Auckland will change as the Western Express (WX1) launches.
WX1 - Westgate to City Center
11T and 11W Westgate to City Center via Great North Road
13 Henderson and Te Atatū.
14 New Lynn, Henderson and the new Lincoln Bus Interchange.
116 a new route for West Hills.
123 a new route between southern Huapai and Westgate.
135 between Henderson and the top of the Te Atatū Peninsula.
145 between Henderson and the new Lincoln Bus Interchange.
147 between Waitakere Township and Henderson via Swanson, Rānui and Lincoln Road.
149 between Rānui and New Lynn
148 between Rānui & Lincoln Road.
At the heart of these changes and new routes are new bus interchanges at Westgate, Lincoln Road and Te Atatū which connect to an interim busway along State Highway 16, The busway is mainly made up of peak-time specific bus lanes in the hard shoulder of the current motorway setup and travel along existing corridors.
At Westgate the WX1 will begin its service towards the City Center on Kedgley Road, In the future, a new bus interchange is planned to be built on Gunton Drive.
The stops on Kedgley Road are 5 street parking spaces converted into in-lane bus stops, I hope there is more work to come on finishing the temporary Kedgley Road stops before it opens, at present there is a passenger information display and tactile pavers to indicate where buses will stop.
Further round on Tawhia Drive new stops have once again been installed where there previously was on-street parking, This set of stops (one on each side of the road) has a passenger information display and concrete pads with wiring for bus shelters.
At Lincoln Road buses heading towards the city will make a slight detour towards The Concourse and Selwood Road before using the roundabout to turn around and enter the appropriate stops. On the Lincoln Road side of the interchange buses headed for Westage will make drop-offs and pick-ups then head through to the on-ramp.
Lincoln Road interchange has the highest number of bus stops with 7 stops they also have the most sheltered stops of the new WX1 stops.
On the Selwood Road side of the Lincoln Road interchange are stops A, B & C.
Stop A: will take passengers towards the City Center.
Stop B: will take passengers coming from Lincoln & Ranui via the 148 & 149.
Stop C: will take passengers coming from Henderson or New Lynn via the 14 & 145.
On the Lincoln Road side of the interchange are stops D, E, F & G.
Stop D: will take passengers heading towards Westgate.
Stop E: will likely take passengers towards Lincoln & Ranui via the 148 & 149.
Stop F: will take passengers towards Henderson via the 14 & 145.
Stop G: is likely to serve the same purpose as stops B & C.
At Te Atatū, we see a similar setup to what was built at Lincoln Road just on a smaller footprint and minus 1 stop.
Te Atatū had been criticised online during construction for not providing adequate weather shelter for those waiting for a service, From my trip to the stops* it would appear most of these stops could have had full cover shelters installed while still providing footpath access rather than the current 3-sided shelters.
*I forgot to visit Stop B.
On the Te Atatū Peninsula side are stops A, B & C
Stop A: serves passengers travelling to the City Center
Stop B: serves passengers travelling via the 13, 132 & 135 towards the Peninsula.
Stop C: serves passengers on the 13 & 135 heading towards Henderson.
The Royal View roadside of the interchange is home to stops D, E & F.
Stop D: serves passengers travelling to Westgate.
Stop E: serves those travelling to Henderson/ Te Atatū South using the 13 or 135.
Stop F: serves passengers travelling to the Peninsula from the City Centre via 13, 135 or 132.
After buses depart from Te Atatū they will travel via bus lanes constructed on the shoulder of the existing motorway towards the Newtown road off-ramp before continuing along existing infrastructure and stops into the city centre via Karangahape Road and Queen Street buses towards Westgate will also follow a similar route via Queen Street, Karangahape and Newton Roads and onto State Highway 16 to Te Atatū.