Victoria St bus stop rejig not ‘Innovating Streets 2.0’

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

A looming bus ban on Hamilton’s Victoria St has sparked both commuter fury and forth-right assurances that its not a pre-cursor to full pedestrianisation.

Under current regional council plans the Northern Connector service (Chartwell to Huntington Drive) to will move off the city’s main street of Victoria Street, from November 2027, with the remaining Hamilton urban routes expected to move to Anglesea St by July 2028

However, city centre-based playwright and public transport commuter Russell Armitage fears the changes have all the hallmarks of “another botched job in the CBD.’’

Armitage, a daily user of the No.5 bus says he was, until recently, left unaware of plans to axe the route.

“Several places I go to are located along that route - two op shops, two cafes, my website designer and a pub - all of which have bus stops near them.

“It would be most inconvenient to have to walk to them from Anglesea Street if the bus was redirected there. It would be even more so for the passengers on the bus I see with walkers and sticks.

“There was a woman in a mobile wheelchair who had not heard of such plans and was rightly very annoyed. Victoria Street is where she wants to go, not Anglesea Street.’’

Waikato Regional Council strategy and delivery manager Lorraine Cheyne said 1200 people had a say on the consultation on the changes last year with the plan endorsed in August 2025.

The changes are part of a broader long-term strategy to, create a simpler, high-frequency public transport network.

“Anglesea Street has been identified as the primary public transport corridor because it has greater capacity for more frequent buses, can accommodate bus priority measures, like future dedicated lanes, and is better suited to supporting future growth and demand.

‘’At the same time, Victoria Street is being rebalanced by HCC toward a more pedestrian-focused environment.’’

That raises the spectre of the failed $902,000 Innovating Streets trial around Ward Street, abandoned in 2021, which raised the ire of business owners in Ward St – which was partially closed to traffic – and commuters who regularly used a portion of Rostrevor St, which was completely closed to vehicles.

However, the memory of the scalding from that debacle seems to live on when today’s councillors were asked if full pedestrianisation on the cards for Victoria St.

Hamilton City Council City Delivery Committee chair Sarah Thomson says there’s “zero chance’’ of that.

“There are no plans to take cars off Victoria St to fully pedestrianise it.

“There is no risk of the bus route changes leading to ‘innovating streets 2.0.’’

Thomson points out that car parks and bus stops were competing for the same space in the CBD.

The city wants more car parks but the trade-off is fewer bus stops.

Thomson is hoping an on-demand shuttle service or loop service or the Flex Bus could be used to accommodate those wanting to get to Victoria St.

The council’s Central City Revitalisation sub-committee chair Geoff Taylor is also clear that full pedestrianisation is not on the cards.

“If anything, it is to put in more car parks.

“The northern part of Victoria St is wider and not built in the pedestrian friendly way of southern Victoria St with gardens, wide footpaths and narrow streets.

“We are doing a parking study and we are looking to find more car parks in the central city - not less.’’

HCC’s urban transport manager Martin Parkes says the changes being progressed with Waikato Regional Council focus on delivering more frequent, direct, and reliable bus services, on direct routes like the Meteor, Comet and Orbiter, which attract significantly higher passenger numbers.

“A win, win for the central city.’’