Illegal parking continues to plague Auckland's popular Albany bus station

Tuesday, 12 December 2017

A lack of legal parking near Albany bus station sees drivers pulling off dangerous and disruptive parking manoeuvres to the anger of residents.

Parking has long been a problem around the popular Auckland park and ride, and one resident is so frustrated he has documented the mayhem in video and photographs.

Albany resident Dustin Plunkett dropped his wife off at the bus station each day and said he had witnessed people stopping in the middle of the road for more than 30 minutes, parking illegally in mobility parks and parking across the walkway.

'Once people see one person do it, everyone piles on. If it was once in a while, I could understand, but it is every day,' Plunkett said.

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Illegal or inconsiderate parking is 'sadly a somewhat common occurrence' at the Albany park and ride and in the surrounding streets, he said.

'I've contacted Auckland Transport numerous times about these issues, and they seem to not want to do anything about it.'

In a report on parking in Albany, released this month, AT said it acknowledged the issues workers, residents and visitors faced and said several projects, including a local shuttle service to improve connections within Albany, a Hibiscus Coast bus station with a 500-bay park and ride facility currently being built, and new busway station in Rosedale would help address concerns.

AT was also seeking funding for a 500-bay multi-storey car park in Albany to add to the existing park and ride which had 1100 free car parks.

AT's proposal to introduce a paid parking zone on Albany roads, to manage demand for parking, received 1258 public submissions, of which 85 per cent were opposed.

However, the paid-parking would still be introduced in late 2018, after a new network for bus services took effect.

On-street parking would be charged at $1 per hour from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with no limit on how long vehicles could park. A 10-minute grace period would allow for pick-ups and drop-offs, and existing loading zones and mobility parking would not be not affected.

Earlier this year, Albany ward councillor John Watson said 'significant parking constraints' could be alleviated with a some painted lines and a transformation of Albany's Hooton Reserve.

'A little bit of creativity and Albany's car parking challenges could be greatly aided and the park and ride capacity addressed for the next five to 10 years anyway,' Watson said