Officials have warned people to avoid unnecessary travel, but for Aucklanders who need to travel the weather has heavily impacted their transport network.

For the most recent updates, check AT Travel Alerts Twitter, AT’s severe weather impact page, Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland. 

Auckland Harbour bridge

As of 10:30am all lanes are open but speed restrictions are in place. However, it is still recommended that high-sided vehicles and motorcycles avoid the bridge and consider rerouting along SH16/18. Officials are monitoring wind speed, and AT has warned that the bridge could be closed and reopened or operate at reduced capacity throughout the day because of the unpredictability of the weather.

Bike lanes

Much of Auckland’s bike infrastructure has been, in part, covered by sediment. Sediment-affected cycleways can be found here under the cycle paths section. The following bike lanes/cycleways are completely blocked:

• Central Park Drive Underpass
• Henderson Creek Path – Opanuku stream path (path completely blocked by fallen debris)
• North-Western links to Waterview Path
• Tamaki Drive westbound cycle path
• Waikaraka Cycle path

Public transport

Buses

There will be delays, detours and cancellations across the bus network during the cyclone. AT is telling people to expect longer bus travel times. Bus services that have already been detoured include buses 170/171 (Titirangi) and 856 (Torbay). School bus services for Glen Eden Intermediate, Green Bay High School, Long Bay College, Northcross Intermediate and Titirangi schools have also been affected (see school bus section). It is anticipated that north shore bus services will be the most affected by the weather, a breakdown of which can be seen on AT’s update page under the bus section.  

Ferries

Ferry cancellations are expected throughout the day across the network due to navigational risks and damage to vessels from debris. 

• Bayswater Ferry: operating on a weekend timetable on Monday, February 13 and Tuesday February 14. The last sailing from downtown on Monday, February 13 will be at 5:10pm.
• The Birkenhead/Northcote Point Ferry: operating on a weekend timetable on  Monday, February 13 and Tuesday February 14. The last sailing from downtown on Monday, February 13 will be at 5:1opm and the last services heading downtown will be at 5:20pm (Northcote Point) and 5:30pm (Birkenhead).
• Devonport Ferry: operating on a 60-minute timetable for Monday, February 13 and Tuesday February 14. The last sailing from downtown on Monday, February 13 will be at 5:00pm and the last service from Devonport will be at 5:15pm.
• Gulf Harbour Ferry: services are replaced by shuttles and taxis on Monday, February 13 and Tuesday February 14. 
• Half Moon Bay Ferry: sailing at reduced speeds and operating on a weekend timetable. The 1:55pm Auckland to Half Moon Bay and 2:35pm Half Moon Bay to Auckland services will be replaced by taxi van. The last sailing from downtown on Monday, February 13 will be at 4:55pm and the last service from Half Moon Bay will be at 5:35pm.
• Hobsonville Point/Beach Haven Ferry: operating on a weekend timetable on Monday, February 13 and Tuesday February 14. The last sailing from downtown on Monday, February 13 will be at 4:55pm and the last services from Beach Haven and Hobsonville Point will be at 5:30pm and 5:35pm respectively. 
• Pine Harbour Ferry: all services cancelled. 
• Rakino Island Ferry: all services cancelled. 
• West Harbour Ferry: is running on a reduced timetable. Departing West Harbour 6.30am, 7.40am, 9.15am, 11.25am, 1.35pm, 3.05pm, 4.50pm, 6.00pm. Departing Downtown 7.05am, 8.15am, 12.00pm, 2.10pm, 3.40pm, 5.25pm, 6.35pm. The last sailing from downtown on Monday, February 13 will be at 3:40pm and the last service from West Harbour will be at 3:05pm.
• Waiheke Island Ferry: available services departing downtown are at 6am, 7:15am, 8:15am, and 9am, then hourly until 5:00pm. Services departing the island are at 6:00am, 7:00am, 8:00am, 9:00am, 10:00am and then hourly until 6:00pm. The last sailing from downtown on Monday, February 13 will be at 5:00pm and the last service from Waiheke will be at 6:00pm.

Trains

Train services will be suspended until at least midday on Tuesday, February 14. From 3:00pm on Monday, February 13 rail replacement buses will operate as follows:

• Western line: an hourly Britomart to Swanson service. The first buses will depart Britomart at 2:44pm and Swanson at 3:01pm.
• Eastern line: an hourly Britomart to Manukau service. The first buses will depart Britomart at 2:11pm and Swanson at 2:35pm.
• Southern line: running to the standard rail replacement bus schedule between Newmarket and Otahuhu as well as an hourly Otahuhu to Papakura service (start time TBC).
• Ohehunga line: running to the standard rail replacement bus schedule between Newmarket and Onehunga. 

Road closures

Auckland Central

• Eldon Road, Mt Eden (closed both ways)
• Waikowhai Road, Mt Roskill (closed both ways)

Aotea-Great Barrier Island

• Aotea Road (closed)
• Cape Barrier Road (closed both ways)
• Hector Sanderson Road (lane closed)
• Motairehe Road (lane closed)
• Schooner Bay Road (lane closed)
• Shoal Bay Road (lane closed)
• Whangaparapara Road (lane closed)

North Shore

• Braemar Road, Castor Bay (closed Westbound)
• Don McKinnon Drive, Albany (closed Westbound)
• Glenvar Road, Torbay – between East Coast Road and Fitzwilliam Drive (closed both ways)
• Hinemoa Terrace, Birkenhead (closed both ways)
• Paremoremo Road, Lucas Heights (lane closed – priority give way in place)
• Ridge Road, Waiake (lane closed – priority give way in place)

Pukekohe

• Awhitu Road, Pollock (lane closed)
• Pukekohe East Road, Pukekohe (lane closed Westbound)
• Orpheus Road, Manukau Heads (closed both ways)

Rodney

• Ahuroa Road, Puhoi (closed both ways)
• Bawdan Road, Dairy Flat (lane closed)
• Cowan Bay Road, Warkworth (closed)
• Dairy Flat Highway, Albany Heights (lane closed southbound)
• Duck Creek Road, Stillwater (lane closed – priority give way in place)
• Kaipara Hills Road, Kaipara Hills (closed)
• Leigh Road – Near Tramcar Bay, Leigh (closed)
• Tahekeroa Road, Tahekeroa (closed both ways)
• Tauhoa Road, Tauhoa (closed)
• Mangawhai Road Near Cemetery Road (closed both ways)
• Wade River Road, Stanmore Bay (lane closed – priority give way in place)
• Waiteitei Road, Kaipara Hills (closed)
• Wayby Valley Road, Wellsford (closed both ways)
  
• Wilson Road – Bottom end of Wilson Road, South Head (closed)
• Windmill Drive, Kaipara Hills (closed)
• Wrights Road, Redvale (closed)

SH1

• Heading into Auckland from Northland, the Bryndwerwyn-Waipu section of SH1 is closed.

SH16

• Closed in both directions between Kaukapakapa and Wellsford.

Southern and Eastern Suburbs

• Linwood Road, Karaka (lane closed)
• Marine Parade, Howick (lane closed)
• Otaua Road, Clevedon (closed both ways)

Waiheke Island

• Hekerua Road (closed both ways)

West Auckland

• 11 to 15 Paturoa Road, Titirangi (lane closed Eastbound)
• 1162 Scenic Drive, Swanson (closed both ways)
• 412 Scenic Drive, Waiatarua (closed both ways)
• 9 Takahe Road, Titirangi (lane closed Westbound) 
• 32 Wood Bay Road, Titirangi (closed both ways)
• Kay Road, Swanson (partly closed off)
• Te Henga Road near Bethells Road, Bethells Beach Te Henga (lane closed – priority give way in place)

Roads to avoid

AT has a comprehensive list of roads that are yet to be closed but should nonetheless be avoided. The list can be found here in the road closure warnings section. In short, it is recommended that people avoid flood-prone areas, including Wairau Valley, Tāmaki Drive, Fred Thomas Drive and Fanshawe Street near Victoria Park.

Wayne Brown’s draft Auckland Council budget 2023 proposes cuts that will put the city’s 32 CAB offices at risk. A lawyer and expert on public access to legal services explains what that could mean.

The yellow and black symbol of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) might be a familiar one, but what does CAB actually do? And why does the threatened funding cut to the Auckland CAB matter?

What does the CAB do?

The CAB basically is an organised and trained volunteer army – about 2,500 volunteers nationwide including around 800 in Auckland. They operate out of 80 locations across the motu, 32 of which are in Auckland. You can drop into one of these centres or get in touch other ways like email, social media, online chat and free-phone. CAB volunteers are from a wide range of backgrounds and receive initial and ongoing training. They act as a help point for anyone needing assistance with pretty much anything, whether providing information from the CAB database or putting the person in touch with the more specific help they need. Every time someone asks for help, the volunteer creates an anonymous record of the enquiry in a database, and a study I led drew on that database.

That study showed that people come to the CAB with all kinds of queries and problems. Sadly, one of their most frequent queries is about how to access food parcels, for example: “Client was referred to us by Plunket for a food parcel. She was specifically in need of baby formula.” Other queries are people just trying to navigate everyday life in a big place: “Client wanting to find a doctor to register with. Client lives in [location] and is having trouble finding one locally.”

CAB as legal help

But CAB is also – very importantly – one of our largest providers of legal help. They are not lawyers but in our study we estimated they help with about 84,000 legal problem enquiries each year, which works out to about 350 legal problem enquiries every day they are open. These cover the whole gamut of legal issues. The top three are consumer problems (like buying faulty goods), employment disputes, and rented housing problems. However, coming close behind in fifth is neighbourhood problems. That is important because no doubt one of the reasons that Auckland Council wants to stop funding CABs is that it thinks they are subsidising central government issues, not local ones. It is true that CABs deal with everything, but a fair chunk of the problems people come to them with are local in nature.

Neighbourhood problems involved things like boundary fences, drainage, trees, dogs (also pigs, bees, cats – you name it!), and noise. Problems of this nature are only set to increase in the aftermath of the floods, which will likely generate queries about drainage, washed-away fences, and dumped flood-damaged property. Our study also found that the council itself refers people to the CAB for help. Remember this is volunteer labour answering these queries, so any funding cuts mean the council will need to pay for its own employees to deal with problems.

But can’t we just do it all online?

Many of our government (local and central) services are now online. This is very convenient for those of us who spend most of our time plugged into a device and have lots of problem-solving confidence. However, those of us who do not have ready access to a device and internet, don’t speak English fluently or cannot read well (more of us than you might think) can’t use online services at all. Perhaps an even larger group do have some online access and skills to read information, but they need human reassurance and support along with the information. They want someone to tell them they have understood correctly, are being reasonable (or to have it pointed out they are being unreasonable). The reassurance provided by having human contact should not be under-estimated. Nor should the number of people who cannot use online services for all kinds of reasons. CABs provide this kind of back-up to online assistance.

As more services move online we will need more of the kind of support that CAB provides, not less. Conversations urgently need to be had between councils and central government about who funds these services, and how the burden should be shared. Keep in mind that this burden is considerably reduced by the fact they are a volunteer service supported by a substantial and long-standing infrastructure. We cannot afford to have the service damaged or everyone will suffer, including Auckland Council.