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Less woah and more go should result from improvements to the bustling Takanini section of Great South Road.
Feedback is now being sought as Auckland Transport (AT) reveals plans intended to ease congestion.
Papakura Local Board chair, Kelvin Hieatt, says he can’t wait for work to begin.
“Great South Road is an important route for commercial vehicles that service our many industrial and retail hubs and surrounding communities. [Adding] more lanes will mean better flow and less time stuck in traffic.”
Almost 20,000 heavy vehicles use the stretch of Great South Road every week – in addition to commuter traffic from fast-growing suburbs including Papakura, Drury and Pokeno – making it one of the country’s busiest arterial routes.
The City Rail Link (CRL) will bring more trains and shorter journey times to the area, but some roading improvements must be in place before it opens, AT’s Chris Martin says.
“This project will give Great South Road more room to keep traffic moving as trains become more frequent. If we do nothing in the meantime, the roads around the rail crossings will become congested more often, creating more disruption and delays.”
Work will be undertaken in two stages, before and after the CRL opens.
“Once we complete stage one, traffic on Great South Road will have two continuous lanes in both directions for almost the entire corridor between Manuroa Road and Glenora Road. The bottlenecks that currently occur because of parked cars and inconsistent lane spacing will then disappear. Drivers will see smoother journeys with fewer stop-starts,” Martin explains.
“After stage two, drivers heading for Great South Road from Taka Street will have another lane to turn right. Long queues from this side should happen less often, especially at busy peak times. Removing the left turn slip lane on Walter Strevens Drive will also make turning into Great South Road from this direction much safer.
“We’ll have a much smoother traffic flow along Great South Road and there will be much more room to move,” Martin adds
For more information, and to provide feedback, visit www.athaveyoursay.govt.nz. Feedback is open until May 16.
