What constitutes the Green Link
Victoria Street linear park
The centrepiece of the green link is a linear park in Victoria Street. This would run from Victoria Park in the west to Albert Park in the east crossing the Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley. Victoria Street would become the city centre’s urban green link.
Tree planting, more greenery and wider footpaths would provide a series of safe, attractive public spaces for those living, visiting and working in the Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley and Victoria Quarter. It has the potential to become one of the postcard images of Auckland, with a wave of green vegetation down Victoria Street from Albert Park.
The park also has a crucial role to play in city centre transport. By reallocating carriageway space away from general traffic towards walking and cycling, the park would convey more people across the city centre. This will be crucial for providing access to and from CRL’s Aotea station when it opens in 2024.
Victoria Street linear park will provide a continuous space for public life through the busiest part of Auckland city centre.
Daldy Street linear park - connecting Wynyard Point open spaces and Victoria Park
Opportunities for large new open spaces in the city centre are mostly limited to the waterfront areas, particularly the Wynyard Point headland in the Wynyard Quarter.
Daldy Street becomes vital as a linear park, stitching future Wynyard Point open spaces and Victoria Park together across Fanshawe Street, thus joining the city centre’s open space network with the Waitematā Harbour.
Albert Park tunnels
There is a bold private proposal to reopen the protected historic heritage WWII Albert Park air raid shelter tunnels as a visitor destination and walking and cycling connection between Victoria Street East and Beach Road/Parnell Rise and Stanley Street/Grafton Gully via Churchill Street.
Lifts would provide direct, accessible connections to Princes and Symonds streets, connecting the tunnels with the Learning Quarter with potential to integrate directly with both the Victoria linear park and enhanced green linkages across Grafton Gully.
The feasibility of this proposal will need to be assessed.
Pedestrian and cycle facilities along Wellesley Street and Grafton Road
Provision of pedestrian and cycle facilities along Wellesley Street and Grafton Road would address one of the missing walking and cycling links over the motorway.
This would link the Learning Quarter, including its new bus facility, directly to the Domain and Auckland Museum.
It would also connect the city centre with fringe destinations including Auckland Hospital and health precinct, Grafton and Parnell.
Green connections
Future enhanced green connections to the port are being planned as part of the multi-way boulevard concept and the masterplan for Te Toangaroa / Quay Park.
These will deliver future links through to Quay Street and Tāmaki Drive.
