Getting Birkenhead Moving Better

About the project

If you’ve ever sat in traffic at the Birkenhead Avenue / Onewa Road intersection, you’re not alone. Around 45,000 people pass through here every day — and during the morning rush, almost 3,000 of us are trying to get through every hour. That includes up to 52 buses, packed with commuters heading to work, school, or wherever they need to be.

It’s a busy spot. And as more people move into the area, it’s only going to get busier.

To help ease the pressure and make the journey smoother for everyone — whether you’re driving, taking the bus, or walking — we’re planning some smart, relatively inexpensive changes that can be done quickly. We shared our ideas earlier this year when they were still in concept. Now, after taking your early feedback, we’re ready to show you the plan.

See below to learn more about our proposal, and check out the sidebar for key dates, the detailed design plan, FAQs and more.

Here's what we're proposing:

1. Extra turning lanes from both sides of Birkenhead Avenue onto Onewa Road. This will give traffic turning on these sides more space to queue any time outside of the T3 lane operating hours.
2. A new connector T3 lane that links the existing T3 lanes on Birkenhead Avenue north and Onewa Road. This will give buses the room they need to move smoothly through the intersection during the morning rush and stay on schedule for the thousands who rely on them to get to work and school. It also creates one continuous T3 lane for buses or carpooling traffic all the way from the start of Birkenhead Avenue to Onewa Road and on to the SH1 motorway. The T3 lane operating hours will stay as 6:30am-10am, Monday-Friday.
3. New T3 entry lanes from Birkenhead Avenue south and Highbury Bypass. These new entry lanes will also operate from 6:30am-10am, Monday-Friday. All other times of day, all vehicles can queue in the lanes.
4. A new signalised pedestrian crossing and slip island on the northeast corner of the intersection. This will ensure it's safe for pedestrians to cross the new left turn lanes being added to this corner. Left-turning traffic will have a full stop controlled by traffic lights while pedestrians are crossing. The new slip island will also have the same amount of standing space for pedestrians as the original island, and it will have ramps and yellow tactile pavers with slip resistant paint for people with accessibility needs.
5. Repositioned kerbs and footpaths on the northern corners of Birkenhead Avenue to make space for the new left-turn lanes. Footpath space in these areas will stay the same in all but a small part in front of Zion Hill Reserve - where the width will reduce by only about 1 metre. We'll also fix up the footpaths in these areas so they're better quality for pedestrians.
6. Upgraded traffic lights with smart technology that can adapt to changing traffic patterns in real time. The smarter traffic lights will be able to sense long traffic queues building on any side of the intersection and quickly cycle extra green time to help clear the queue. The signalised pedestrian crossings will also be upgraded with smart technology to help people crossing in large groups.

These changes make better use of the road space we’ve already got. Together, they’ll help cut down the backups and delays — especially during peak times — and make it easier for you to get where you’re going, no matter how you travel.

A link to download the full design plan is available on the sidebar of this page.

How early community feedback has helped shape our design

When we asked for public feedback on our plans to improve traffic flow along the Onewa Road corridor earlier this year, we also invited people to give their feedback on what we were considering for this project. Overall feedback was strongly positive, and we got some great suggestions on how we could further enhance the design. Here’s what people told us and how it has informed our plan:

Buses need help merging into the Onewa Road T3 lane, especially from Highbury Bypass: People overwhelmingly agreed that merging chaos around the Onewa Road T3 lane during the morning rush was a huge pain point, especially for buses. They agreed entry T3 lanes on both sides of Birkenhead Avenue would help, but they said Highbury Bypass could also use a T3 entry lane. We’ve included one in the design plan.

We need clearer lane markings: People told us clearer lane markings that indicate where to queue as far ahead as possible would go a long way to help improve their travel experience. We’ll make sure all new or changing road lanes have clear markings and supporting signage so that you’ll know where you need to queue for whatever direction you’re travelling as far in advance as possible.

Pedestrian crossings here could be safer: Many people told us pedestrian safety is a big concern at this intersection, especially given the number of students and families that walk here in large groups. People gave us some great suggestions on how we could make it safer. Although we’re limited by budget on how much we can do, we’ve included some features that help ensure people of all ages, abilities, and group sizes can safely cross:

• We’re upgrading the pedestrian crossing on the northeast corner of the intersection (in front of Zion Hill Methodist Church) from a zebra to a signalised crossing. This will help ensure people can safely cross the double left-turn lanes to the new slip island without conflicting with turning traffic. The turning traffic will have a full stop when pedestrians are crossing.
• The new northeast corner slip island, though a little smaller, will have the same amount of useable space as the original island, for people walking in big groups. We’ll do this by minimising the number of power and sign poles that could take up space for people walking. We’ll also include ramps and yellow tactile pavers with slip-resistant paint at this crossing for people with accessibility needs.
• We’ve worked to ensure wherever we’re modifying footpaths to make room for turning lanes, most of them stay the same width. And where we have had to make footpaths less wide, we’ve worked to make sure the width reduces as little as possible.
• All the traffic lights and pedestrian crossings will be upgraded with smart technology to control all movements and ensure everyone – whether you’re walking or driving – has the right amount of green time to get across safely and smoothly.

Leave enough room for large turning vehicles: While people liked the idea of having double turn lanes from both sides of Birkenhead Avenue to Onewa Road, some questioned whether there’d be enough room for larger vehicles like buses and heavy trucks to turn safely with general traffic. The kerb changes we’re making to accommodate the new turn lanes leave plenty of room for vehicles of all sizes to move safely. We’re also including guiding lines to help everybody stay on track.

If you would like to read the full Onewa Road public feedback report, we’ve included a link to it on the sidebar of this page.

Help us finish the plan

You can help us complete our plan by telling us about how you’re currently travelling through this intersection, what these changes might mean for your journey, and if there’s anything else we’re missing.

Complete our survey below to give your feedback. (Note: the survey will go live on 17 November 2025)

Feedback closes 7 December 2025.

What happens next?

We’ll review all the community feedback and share the biggest themes we heard in a report, along with our responses. We may make some final tweaks to our plan based on what we hear.

Then, we’ll share the final plan and when we expect to deliver the project. We’re currently on track to deliver it in the second half of 2026.