Protest threat to holiday traffic flow

Constable Marius Snatler will be part of the crackdown on speed. Photo / Greg Bowker

Holidaymakers making an early break out of Auckland this afternoon face added disruption on the main road north, from opponents of the Super City.

The Transport Agency is urging drivers heading out of the city for Queen's Birthday Weekend to allow extra time because of a threatened protest from about 3pm along State Highway One between the Northern Gateway toll road and Warkworth.

It is also warning southbound drivers of a risk of congestion from protesters around the toll road's payment kiosks near Puhoi, restricting access to machines.

Opponents of the inclusion of Rodney District in the new Auckland Council have threatened to drive a convoy of vehicles, possibly to be led by a tractor or a horse and cart, along the winding 19km route from the northern end of the toll road's tunnels.

Transport Agency northern highways manager Tommy Parker said motorists could prefer to use State Highway 16 as an alternative route between Auckland and Wellsford.

But he said the agency was liaising with the police to co-ordinate traffic management and ensure any disruption was kept to a minimum.

Protest organisers could not be contacted yesterday to confirm their plans, but the head of a separate group opposed to the Super City said he understood they were intent on proceeding.

Northern Action Group chairman Bill Townson was not involved with the protest, but he understood the organisers' plan was to make a visible statement short of causing excessive delays for holidaymakers.

Some of his members have formed another association called the Direct Action Group to run the protest.

Those delayed by the protest will at least be spared the possibility of incurring fines in a holiday weekend police crackdown on speeding drivers.

Motorists should take particular care on Northland's Brynderwyn Hills because of a new reduced legal limit of 80km/h.

The police are vowing to take action against anyone found driving more than 4km/h above speed limits - down from their normal tolerance margin of 10km/h - in a bid to stop the holiday break turning into "another killer weekend on New Zealand roads."

That follows 12 road deaths over Easter, the worst toll for the holiday in 18 years, and 10 fatalities over Queen's Birthday Weekend last year.

The grim statistics prompted Police Commissioner Howard Broad to take the unusual step of having quarter-page advertisements published in newspapers yesterday, warning readers that his officers would be "out in strength this weekend doing everything within our powers to stop you making poor and dangerous decisions". "We make no apology for this," he said.

"If you dismiss it as revenue gathering, then you are shrugging off your responsibility of care, and saying it is acceptable for you and other drivers to put you and your family at risk."

National road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose said the lower tolerance level would be a trial for this weekend, possibly to be repeated during other holiday periods.

Asked if drivers had been given fair notice of the crackdown, she said police in other countries never disclosed speeding tolerance margins.

"They are quite surprised that we've gone so public for the holiday weekend, but we are saying: Hang on, we're killing people out there, because this is actually about saving people's lives.

"We don't want to write a single ticket for speeding and actually we don't have to if individuals modify their own behaviour," Ms Rose said.

But Automobile Association spokesman Mike Noon feared the lower tolerance margin would go down badly with many drivers, as it was intended to make allowances for speedometer errors and for vehicles to have enough room to overtake others safely.

He said he received an email message from a member whose new car's speedo was "8 per cent out" and who was waiting for a replacement part as it could not be readjusted.

He also feared drivers may overtake other vehicles at lower speeds, putting them at greater risk of running past the ends of passing lanes.