Great South Road, Mt Wellington Heavy Vehicle/T2 lanes

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Consultation has concluded

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on changes to these special vehicle lanes. Great South Road is an important route in Mount Wellington and carries approximately 26,000 vehicles per day including many trucks and heavy vehicles (approximately 14%).  It is also relied on by up to 19 buses an hour. It is an essential link in our wider strategic freight and public transport network, and it will become more important as Auckland continues to grow. 

A temporary trial of heavy vehicle and T2 transit lanes (which can be used by buses and vehicles with two or more people in them) has been in place since January 2023. These lanes stretch from Church Street East to Portage Road and operate from 7am until 7pm, seven days a week.  

In August 2024 we asked for feedback on how this was going. We wanted to know if it would be helpful to reduce the operating hours to better align with busy travel periods and asked for local input on what could be improved.  

We proposed  

  • Making the heavy vehicle / T2 lanes on this stretch of road permanent but reducing the operating hours to the busiest periods, which are 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday. 

  • Installing broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times) along sections of Great South Road, between Portage Road and Vestry Drive.  


Map showing location of the HV/T2 lanes and the new no stopping areas.Figure 1: Location of the HV/T2 lanes and the new no stopping areas.



Feedback was requested from local businesses, residents and industry associations from Monday 12 August to Monday 9 September 2024.  

The response rate to our survey was low. 25 people responded to our survey, and we heard from four industry associations via email. Most opposed the proposal in principle but provided helpful information that we have assessed. 

Here are some of these comments 

  • Improving intersection signals: “The backlog of traffic takes me several light phases to be able to enter into the HV/T2 lane...a lot of time waiting for light phases to clear traffic.” 

  • Safety: “As a commuter who uses this route most day. I find it quite dangerous, as there is no median strip for most (or all) of it. With no median strip, if vehicles on GSR need to turn right into a driveway, or pull into the highway from the right, it is very difficult for them and the flowing traffic.” 

  • Enforcing the lanes: “The lanes are ignored by road users and do little to help a heavily congested area.” 

What we have decided 

Listening to feedback from industry associations, businesses and individuals, we have made some changes to our proposal.  

  • We will not be going ahead with painting broken yellow lines on Great South Road, between Portage Road and Vestry Drive. Parking will still be available when these special vehicle lanes are not in use.  

  • We will review this stretch of road with our Auckland Transport Operation Centre (ATOC) to check that enough time is being given to move vehicles through intersections during busy periods.  

Road freight is important to improve productivity for Auckland and freight and commercial trips on our city’s roads is expected to double by 2041.  

These lanes have already improved the efficiency of heavy vehicles, which was a large part of our earlier intervention. Average speeds for freight vehicles by about 12% in the northbound direction during the morning peak and 11% in the southbound direction during the afternoon peak on weekdays. 

We will continue with our plan to reduce the operating days and hours (7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday), but not remove it entirely as some have suggested, as this stretch of road is a very important link in our wider strategic freight and public transport network. We are also unable to undertake any activities that widen the road (including adding a median), but this could be considered as a separate project in the future. We need to retain the priority lane to help keep people and goods moving, now and into the future. 

What happens next 

In June 2025, we will make changes to signage along this stretch of road, reducing the hours these lanes will operate. We will begin work to install remote monitoring cameras to ensure people adhere to the new operating hours, which will provide more consistent enforcement of this special vehicle lane. 

Outside the hours of operation, the lane is available for use by all traffic, including private vehicles. 

Other minor suggestions we have received will be reviewed separately (such as intersection signal optimisation and adding a flush median).  

If you would like to speak with the project team about any of this, please email ATengagement@at.govt.nz 

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on changes to these special vehicle lanes. Great South Road is an important route in Mount Wellington and carries approximately 26,000 vehicles per day including many trucks and heavy vehicles (approximately 14%).  It is also relied on by up to 19 buses an hour. It is an essential link in our wider strategic freight and public transport network, and it will become more important as Auckland continues to grow. 

A temporary trial of heavy vehicle and T2 transit lanes (which can be used by buses and vehicles with two or more people in them) has been in place since January 2023. These lanes stretch from Church Street East to Portage Road and operate from 7am until 7pm, seven days a week.  

In August 2024 we asked for feedback on how this was going. We wanted to know if it would be helpful to reduce the operating hours to better align with busy travel periods and asked for local input on what could be improved.  

We proposed  

  • Making the heavy vehicle / T2 lanes on this stretch of road permanent but reducing the operating hours to the busiest periods, which are 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday. 

  • Installing broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times) along sections of Great South Road, between Portage Road and Vestry Drive.  


Map showing location of the HV/T2 lanes and the new no stopping areas.Figure 1: Location of the HV/T2 lanes and the new no stopping areas.



Feedback was requested from local businesses, residents and industry associations from Monday 12 August to Monday 9 September 2024.  

The response rate to our survey was low. 25 people responded to our survey, and we heard from four industry associations via email. Most opposed the proposal in principle but provided helpful information that we have assessed. 

Here are some of these comments 

  • Improving intersection signals: “The backlog of traffic takes me several light phases to be able to enter into the HV/T2 lane...a lot of time waiting for light phases to clear traffic.” 

  • Safety: “As a commuter who uses this route most day. I find it quite dangerous, as there is no median strip for most (or all) of it. With no median strip, if vehicles on GSR need to turn right into a driveway, or pull into the highway from the right, it is very difficult for them and the flowing traffic.” 

  • Enforcing the lanes: “The lanes are ignored by road users and do little to help a heavily congested area.” 

What we have decided 

Listening to feedback from industry associations, businesses and individuals, we have made some changes to our proposal.  

  • We will not be going ahead with painting broken yellow lines on Great South Road, between Portage Road and Vestry Drive. Parking will still be available when these special vehicle lanes are not in use.  

  • We will review this stretch of road with our Auckland Transport Operation Centre (ATOC) to check that enough time is being given to move vehicles through intersections during busy periods.  

Road freight is important to improve productivity for Auckland and freight and commercial trips on our city’s roads is expected to double by 2041.  

These lanes have already improved the efficiency of heavy vehicles, which was a large part of our earlier intervention. Average speeds for freight vehicles by about 12% in the northbound direction during the morning peak and 11% in the southbound direction during the afternoon peak on weekdays. 

We will continue with our plan to reduce the operating days and hours (7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday), but not remove it entirely as some have suggested, as this stretch of road is a very important link in our wider strategic freight and public transport network. We are also unable to undertake any activities that widen the road (including adding a median), but this could be considered as a separate project in the future. We need to retain the priority lane to help keep people and goods moving, now and into the future. 

What happens next 

In June 2025, we will make changes to signage along this stretch of road, reducing the hours these lanes will operate. We will begin work to install remote monitoring cameras to ensure people adhere to the new operating hours, which will provide more consistent enforcement of this special vehicle lane. 

Outside the hours of operation, the lane is available for use by all traffic, including private vehicles. 

Other minor suggestions we have received will be reviewed separately (such as intersection signal optimisation and adding a flush median).  

If you would like to speak with the project team about any of this, please email ATengagement@at.govt.nz 

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

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    Consultation has concluded
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