Orewa Boulevard safety improvements Orewa Boulevard safety improvements
Auckland Transport is helping the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board and Destination Ōrewa Beach (Ōrewa Business Association) to make Ōrewa a world-class destination, with improvements to Ōrewa Boulevard that will make it safer and easier for you to move between the beach, reserve and shops.
Project status: Construction
Project zone: North
Project overview
We are about to implement some exciting improvements to Ōrewa Boulevard. We worked closely with the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board and Destination Ōrewa Beach to design these initiatives in partnership with the local community.
The improvements are designed to attract more visitors and increase foot traffic between the beach, reserve and the shops. This will result in a more desirable, vibrant, and safe shopping and recreation environment for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers to enjoy, all in time for next summer.
80% of all road deaths and serious injuries occur on 50km/h local urban roads. Nearly half of those deaths and injuries involve vulnerable road users. We are proud to provide a safer environment for all and drive commercial and recreational benefits for the Ōrewa community.
Find out more about the Ōrewa Town Centre safety improvements.
Ōrewa Boulevard and town centre safety improvements artist impression.
Project details
The project is led and funded by the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. The works, scheduled to take place between 27 April and November, will upgrade the area with a new paved footpath outside the shops and shared path through the reserve, which will make it easier and safer to move around.
The improvement include:
- Extension of Boulevard from Riverside Road to Empire Road to connect the beach, shops and reserve.
- Construction of a shared cycling and walking path on the beach side of Hibiscus Coast Highway and new brick-paved footpath on the shop side.
- Replacing the parallel parking on the beach side of Hibiscus Coast Highway with angled parking, creating an additional seven parking spaces.
- Upgrading the two pedestrian crossings to raised zebra crossings, catering for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Relocating the school bus stop at 280 Hibiscus Coast Highway to 6 Riverside Road and moving Intercity buses to 288 Hibiscus Coast Highway. The Intercity bus stop on the beach side will be relocated opposite 260 Hibiscus Coast Highway.
Learn more about speed calming measures and their benefits.
View map showing Ōrewa Boulevard safety improvements (JPG 1.32MB).
Public consultation
We asked for your feedback on the proposed changes from the 25 May to 22 June 2020 and received 205 submissions. Once again, thank you for helping us make better decisions for your neighbourhood, informed by your local knowledge.
Consultation outcome
After considering public feedback, we will progress the project should funding become available, subject to the following changes:
- We will no longer relocate the school bus stop to 6 Riverside Road or the Intercity bus stop to 288 Hibiscus Coast Highway as different routes are now in place for these buses.
- We will construct a hard surface next to the mobility parking beside the new pedestrian crossing to help side loading/unloading from vans.
- The new brick footpath on the shops side of Hibiscus Coast Highway will be for people walking and won’t be shared with people on bikes. This is because the space is not sufficiently wide, and safety concerns were raised around it being too busy to be shared. We will encourage people biking to use the new shared path proposed on the beach side.
- The pedestrian crossings across Hibiscus Coast Highway will no longer be combined with a bike crossing given the shared path is just on the beach side of the road.
Read the public feedback report here.
What happens next
Construction will begin in late April on the seaward side of the road and will take place between Monday and Saturday. We will work hard to minimise any inconvenience during the works programme. If your home or business is directly impacted by the works, we will be in touch with you with more information before we begin.
We will need to reduce Ōrewa Boulevard to one-way or divert traffic at certain times during the project. Some parking will be removed temporarily during construction. Traffic management tools, such as “stop go” systems, will be in place once the project is underway. While diversion routes are in place, we will provide signage to show the new route.
Project news
Temporary detours on Hibiscus Coast Highway from Monday 8 August
To install the new raised crossings, we need to close part of Hibiscus Coast Highway between Empire Road and Riverside Road for four to six weeks. We will make sure that you can still access the beach and shops safely, and we will install temporary pedestrian crossings outside 262 and 282 Hibiscus Coast Highway.
So you can still move around, we will put detours in place from Monday 8 August. The safest way we can do this is to organise the detours in two stages.
Stage 1: Monday 8 - Friday 19 August – South-bound traffic detour in place
If you are driving south along Hibiscus Coast Highway, please follow the detour signs via Riverside Road, Centreway Road, Pine Road and Empire Road. Please note this stage may begin earlier or later depending on weather conditions and progress of stage 1.
Stage 2: Monday 25 August - Friday 5 September – North-bound traffic detour in place
If you are driving north along Hibiscus Coast Highway, please follow the detour signs via Empire Road, Pine Road, Centreway Road and Riverside Road.
Contact us
If you would like to speak to someone about our plans or would like project updates keeping you informed of how the project is progressing, please email us at projects@AT.govt.nz