Get Moving:Traffic lights on a mission to improve the flow

As a newcomer to the eastern suburbs I am amazed how one set of traffic lights at Mission Bay can cause a backlog of traffic not just in peak weekday traffic but at weekends. I note that in St Heliers and Kohimarama there are no traffic lights and the traffic flows reasonably smoothly. The needs of pedestrians are served by adequate numbers of pedestrian crossings. What is the rationale for continuing to keep one set of traffic lights at Mission Bay, bearing in mind the traffic problems it creates? Julie Jones, Kohimarama.

The Auckland City Council says if the traffic signals at the intersection of Tamaki Drive and Patteson Ave were removed a pedestrian crossing would be needed near the intersection to allow pedestrians to cross Tamaki Drive safely. Because of the high number of pedestrians crossing Tamaki Drive at the intersection a crossing would increase vehicle delays significantly. Taking into account pedestrians and vehicles the city council considers traffic signals the most appropriate form of intersection control.

When heading north the electronic sign over the Newmarket Viaduct frequently advises that the Khyber Pass offramp is closed for construction purposes. This warning comes too late to consider any alternatives and I am forced to use the Symonds St offramp. Why can this warning not be provided before the Market Rd offramp? Adam Lawrence, Auckland.

Terry Brown of Transit New Zealand says the Newmarket variable message sign (VMS) was installed as a strategic sign to provide information on optional routes north such as the Northern Motorway and Northwestern Motorway. A new VMS is to be erected soon south of Greenlane to provide more local information.

In Manukau City many streets, including the Great South Rd, now have a solid white line painted about 1.5m out from and parallel to the kerb. Cars parking along the side of these streets, all being wider than 1.5m, appear to be half parked in the traffic lane. Traditionally marked car parks have always been about the width of a car. Is this new strip intended to mark out a parking lane? If so why is it so narrow? Is it a cycling lane? It looks wrong and irritates me. Alfred McIntosh, Manukau City.

Drivers using these lanes for parking should be warned. If it looks too narrow to park in, it is. The lanes are part of a walking/cycling strategy being developed for Manukau City, says the city traffic engineer Bruce Conaghan, and signs indicating that these lanes are for cyclists are due to go up soon. The lanes will continue to be marked out on the main east-west and north-south arterial routes to make life easier and safer for cyclists.

If you park in them, you will be punished.


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