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Home / New Zealand

<i>Ask Phoebe:</i> Let's remove pain of late night motorway closures

Phoebe Falconer
NZ Herald·
6 Oct, 2008 03:00 PM3 mins to read

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The Onewa Rd bridge damage. Photo / Richard Lissington

The Onewa Rd bridge damage. Photo / Richard Lissington

KEY POINTS:

Can you please tell me why the Northern Motorway closes at 11pm? Last month I arrived at the northern end of the harbour bridge and queued for nearly half an hour to get off and on again at Onewa Rd. I understand the motorway reopened at 2am. Why can't they close the motorway from 2am until 4am? It would disrupt fewer people. Lisa Jones, Mairangi Bay.

These closures were put in place to allow for the demolition of the old Onewa Rd overbridge.

As we know from the events of last Friday, when a digger on the back of a truck hit the overbridge, this process has been accelerated somewhat. Further closures will be necessary to remove the rest of the onramp bridge. Usually closures are programmed to start at 10pm and continue until 5am, but they can be reduced if workers make good progress. If the weather is bad the closure can be deferred.

I have lived in the Westmere area for nearly 38 years and I have used the Bullock Track all of that time. I noticed the other day a crossed arrow sign indicating no right turn into Great North Rd. How long has it been there? Shouldn't there be a sign indicating this at the top, in Old Mill Rd? I got around the problem by driving across the intersection, doing a u-turn around the little traffic island and heading left into Great North Rd. Jeany Rogers, Westmere.

The council thanks you for bringing this to their attention, Ms Rogers. You may have noticed the sign has now disappeared. It was put up in the wrong place, apparently. Whoops.

I commute from Mairangi Bay to the city. Recently I've noticed on my trip home during the afternoon peak that the traffic seems to be easing. Is it, or are my rose-tinted spectacles working? Christine Jones, Mairangi Bay.

It's not just wishful thinking, Christine. An additional motorway lane from Northcote to Sunnynook is almost complete, with two out of the three sections already open. The third and final section, from Northcote to just after the Wairau Bridge, will open this month.

The 2.9km lane is designed to ease the queues caused by traffic merging at Tristram Ave and the reduction to two lanes between Tristram and Sunnynook.

* Which is the worst road (street, crescent, lane, terrace, place, avenue etc) in the Auckland region, and why - poor surface, poor signage, poor access?

Email your suggestions to askphoebe@nzherald.co.nz before the end of this month. We'll pick the 10 worst and endeavour to get something done about them.

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