CLG Minutes 26 February 2019

City Rail Link – Aotea Community Liaison Group Meeting MINUTES AND ACTION POINTS Rā: Wā: Wā hi:

5:30pm – 7:30pm Level 17, 29 Customs St

ATTENDEES CLG Members Arron Money

SkyCity

Brian Biddle

Manhattan Apartments

Bruce Castle

Manhattan Apartments

George Wong

Manhattan Apartments

Tania Loveridge

Heart of the City

CRL staf Sonya Leahy

Stakeholder Communications Manager

Richard Jenkins

Principal Planner

Lucas Nikkel

C2 Construction Manager

ITEM

UPDATE/ACTIONS

1

Welcome and introductions

Sonya opened the meeting and introduced the agenda for the meeting:  Albert Street canopy removals and associated traffic changes  Update on current lower Albert Street works  Next stage of CRL works in upper Albert Street  Wider project updates  Review of CLG membership ahead of main construction works

2

Albert St works update

Lucas Nikkel gave an update on the Albert Street canopy removal works:  Full or partial removal of canopies from buildings located along the western side of Albert St, between Wellesley and Victoria Sts  Impacted buildings: Auckland Council, SkyCity, Manhattan Apartments and AA  The canopies must be removed to enable access for a large piling rig to install piles of more than 20 metres in length  These piles are required to build the new Aotea Station  While there will be some noise associated with the canopy removal work, it is not expected to be particularly loud or disruptive  This week we will erect the scafolding, including walkways, under the canopy of the Auckland Council building to maintain safe pedestrian access Page | 1

CRLL – CLG Aotea

ITEM

UPDATE/ACTIONS

 CRL are working with local businesses on the canopy removal hoardings, following the current Albert St design, introducing Perspex into the hoarding design to allow natural light, including business wayfinding and high-level project information, mix of skins and scrims  Albert St has been reduced to one lane in each direction between Victoria and Wellesley Sts to provide working room  Pedestrian movements and access to all buildings is being maintained. Pedestrian walkways will be protected by traffic barriers and hoardings  North-bound vehicles on Albert St are are now unable to make right-hand turns into Crowne Plaza and south-bound vehicles unable to make right-hand turns in to the SkyCity carpark  Signage and site personnel directing traffic and pedestrians  Detour maps were provided  Arron said that the City Convenience Store should not be on the signage and that this store is in fact located elsewhere. Bruce and Brian said that the store under their apartment is a City Convenience franchise and should be on the signage  Tania said she was disappointed by the temporary signage that had been erected by the contractor. Lucas acknowledged this and CRLL had taken this on board to improve in the future.

Some delay was due to waiting for a site measure for the final hoardings before ordering the materials. In the future this would be ordered in advance  Lucas also provided an update on other Albert Street works from Wyndham to Customs Sts and showed images of tunnel progress  Reinstatement works, including Wyndham St intersection are underway  Wyndham pedestrian bridge has shifted further south on Albert St, before the slip lane  Associated traffic layout changes taking efect soon  20 out 29 tunnel box sections completed (between Wyndham St and Stamford Hotel)  Tunnel box construction is expected to be completed by about August this year

3

Wyndham Street closure

Lucas provided information on the upcoming Wyndham Street closure:  From 28 February, the top of Wyndham St East will be closed for about a month to complete all the utility and stormwater infrastructure upgrades under the road and intersection  Southbound traffic lane likely to shift slightly towards the western side of the road  No left turn will be possible from Albert to Wyndham St East or from Wyndham St East to Albert St  Pedestrian access and on-street parks maintained on Wyndham St outside the road closure  Tania commented that there needs to be a greater level of care – or a sense of collective care – for Albert Street around the construction sites. For example, litter can accumulate around the base of construction hoardings and someone needs to be responsible for removing this  Arron commented that there had been a significant drop-off in traffic for the East Day Spa and construction hoardings give the impression that it’s closed. CRLL committed to investigating options to remove the taller hoardings upon completion of the SkyCity canopy

4

Upcoming CRL main works

Richard talked about what is coming up with CRL’s main works:  CRLL is in the latter stages of procuring a construction Alliance for CRL’s main works, including stations and tunnels Page | 2

CRLL – CLG Aotea

ITEM

UPDATE/ACTIONS

 There are now two short-listed tenderers, and a decision is currently expected in April 2019  Alliance expected to mobilise as soon as possible with site works commencing later in 2019  Further open excavation works required up Albert Street to build Aotea Station  Construction from Aotea to Mt Eden will utilise a tunnel boring machine  The Alliance will work closely with adjoining stakeholders regarding the proposed construction methodology for the Aotea Station works. Construction management plans, including in relation to social impact and business disruption, will be prepared in consultation with stakeholders and the CLG

5

Wider CRL project updates Sonya and Richard presented on wider project updates: C1: Britomart & Lower Queen Street  Excavation has been completed under Britomart’s Chief Post Office building and Lower Queen Str  Concrete rail tunnels now being constructed  Breakthrough to Commercial Bay tunnels largely complete Mt Eden stormwater realignment works  ‘Jeffie’ the mini tunnel boring machine has completed 330m of her 420m journey, diverting a section of the existing Mt Eden stormwater pipe between Water and Nikau Sts  These works are required because the stormwater pipe lies in the path of the future CRL tunnels and needs to be diverted before station and tunnel works can begin at Mt Eden C8: Wider network improvements  Work has been completed on The Strand cross-over project in Parnell  KiwiRail installed a new track cross-over point, modified the track and overhead lines and signal equipment  Trains now have easier access to the stabling yard, which supports more peak services once the CRL is running Preparing for Mt Eden and Karangahape demolition works  A number of buildings in Mt Eden, and at Mercury Lane and East St of K Rd, need to be demolished before the CRL station and tunnelling works begin  CRL is consulting with property owners and occupiers adjoining the demolition areas  Demolition will commence in the second half of 2019 New Lower Queen Street hoardings  Hoardings have been placed in a visible location to raise awareness and increase understanding of the project  Large imagery and business wayfinding has been incorporated  Key messaging about tangible benefits of the project  Good public feedback so far  George asked what happens to the remaining land after CRL is built. Richard advised that land used for construction, but no longer required once CRL becomes operational, will be on-sold for future development

6

Reviewing CLG membership

 Sonya presented on reviewing CLG membership, explaining that before CRLL awards its main station and tunnel-building contract, it needs to know whether Aotea CLG members still wish Page | 3

CRLL – CLG Aotea

ITEM

UPDATE/ACTIONS

to commit their time to the group going forward  For each area of work, a number of important construction management documents will need to be written and brought to the group for its input  Members will be expected to build up their knowledge of the project to enable them to share information with, and provide feedback from, their local community. For this reason, it’s important that all CLG members are able to attend regularly, going forward  Sonya explained that she would soon be contacting all of CRL’s CLG members to find out whether or not they are willing to stay on. She said she appreciated that most people live busy lives, so if the members felt they could no longer commit to being a CLG member, she would like to know so she can ofer the position to others in the local community who are keen to be involved  Sonya asked for members’ feedback on their CLG experience so far – i.e. what they liked or disliked about meetings they’ve attended, what prevents people from attending, what CRL could do to improve the meetings to make them more interesting or enjoyable, and whether there are aspects of the project (other than works directly impacting their local area) that they’d like to learn more about  Sonya explained that CRLL is committed to improving the CLG process and wants to ensure that the meetings are beneficial, not only for the project, but for CLG members too. CRLL wants members to enjoy attending and to go away feeling that it was worth their time. She will pose the same questions to members not in attendance  All CLG members present agreed that they had benefitted from the style and content of this particular meeting. Bruce said he enjoyed hearing more about the wider project. Arron said it was interesting to hear about planning and works in other areas of the project, as it gave the Aotea work more context. Richard had explained that the CRL project is about more than just the new 3.4 km underground link between Britomart and Mt Eden. The project will enable an improved level of service on the Auckland passenger rail network as a whole (trains running more frequently). Arron said he had appreciated the interactive nature of the meeting  Arron asked CRL to consider changing the CLG meeting times to early morning or about 4pm, as he thought this would better suit the group’s business members. Sonya replied that CRL is open to changing it if the majority of the group agrees but that residents (many of whom may be unable to attend during office hours) also needed to be considered. Sonya said that members would be canvassed about these time options.

Page | 4

CRLL – CLG Aotea