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The closure of an on-ramp into the city for a dedicated “bus priority lane” after damage to the Auckland Harbor Bridge is in turn causing streets in the Ponsonby area to become clogged.
Traffic on Monday afternoon crept along Shelly Beach Rd, Jervois Rd, College Hill and Beaumont St as motorists tried to navigate the new changes, hailed by transportation authorities as “teamwork.”
It comes as Auckland commuters continue to face long delays across the region after a freak accident on Friday caused the closure of half of the bridge’s lanes.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) announced Monday afternoon that work on a temporary solution that could reopen some lanes will begin Tuesday night.
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Brett Gliddon, general manager of transportation services for NZTA, said the repair work meant that the southbound clip-on lanes would be closed overnight starting Tuesday for about two nights.
Supplied
According to a resident, the closure of the Curran St entrance ramp for a bus priority lane has caused the roads around the Ponsonby area to become clogged.
A detour would be established through the Western Ring Road.
The nightly closings, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., would allow the NZTA space to bring in steel and ensure the health and safety of workers on the bridge, he said.
The bus priority system allows buses to access the northbound SH1 entrance ramp on Fanshawe St via a new priority lane, allowing buses to avoid queuing traffic.
This highway priority lane merges with general traffic at the bridge entrance.
Motorists who would normally use the Curran St entrance ramp are advised to follow the marked detour route to the Fanshawe St. Northbound entrance ramp.
Nigel Horrocks / Supplied
Highway traffic is barely moving trying to reach the bridge near the Hopetoun St overbridge at 4.30pm Monday.
The priority lane will be in place until the bridge is fully operational again, which could take several weeks.
At 6.30 p.m. M., Travel delays on the western ring route had been alleviated and it took 30-40 minutes to reach the North Shore.
A Stuff The reporter described traffic throughout Ponsonby as “bumper to bumper” as motorists tried to enter the highway from side streets and said many vehicles were parked.
Earlier, a local resident said that no one could enter the highway from Ponsonby or the surrounding areas due to the resulting congestion.
She said motorists were feeding under the bridge and backing onto Shelley Beach Rd in an attempt to navigate the “total blockage.”
Chris McKeen / Stuff
Traffic near the harbor bridge on Monday afternoon around 5pm.
“The rest of the traffic that normally goes down Curran [St] and it’s not congesting Jervois [Rd] so nothing can feed on Jervois Rd. “
Workers in the area trying to get home had reportedly been trapped in the traffic jam for over an hour.
Meanwhile, traveling from the city along the western ring route (SH18, SH16 and 20) took about an hour to reach the North Shore.
However, northbound traffic on the bridge itself seemed to flow.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
Traffic appears to flow across the harbor bridge itself.
Monday morning between 6 a.m. M. And 10 a. M., 11,500 vehicles crossed the bridge heading north, 30 percent less than at the same time last week.
Approximately 11,000 North Shore vehicles crossed the Auckland Harbor Bridge between 6 a.m. M. And 10 a.m. M., 16,000 less than at the same time last week.
Meanwhile, Upper Harbor Hwy (SH18) saw 11,600 vehicles traveling south, 4,000 more along the route than the previous week.
Just over 11,000 vehicles traveled north on Upper Harbor Dr, up 14% from last week.
The NZTA is asking people on the North Shore to work from home if possible, or to use the western ring route or buses if not.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
Vehicles in the clip-on lanes of the bridge around 5.30pm on Monday.
