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Changes have been made to the road layout to try and improve safety on Whangaparaoa Road at the entrance to New World supermarket.
Since the supermarket was built, traffic has built up on the downhill approach to the site and at rush hours, cars are frequently bumper-to-bumper.
An Auckland Transport (AT) spokesperson says that ever since the New World site opened, AT has had complaints about the impact of the driveway on Whangaparaoa Road.
The main issue is vehicles turning left into the site from Whangaparaoa Rd slowing down to a complete stop to turn in, affecting following vehicles.
“The access is in the centre of a big dip on Whangaparaoa Road with vehicles generally travelling fast down the hill, so slowing down to turn into the site can force speeding drivers to brake suddenly,” the spokesperson says.
Consultation between New World owner Foodstuffs, AT and Auckland Council, came to an agreement to cut back the traffic island and shift the bus stop further west to reduce the risk of rear end crashes (HM March 16).
In addition, the vehicle entry point has recently been made wider.
“This makes it more comfortable to get into the site without having to slow down so abruptly,” the AT spokesperson says.
Initially, AT advised Hibiscus Matters that the car park entrance was narrow in order to improve safety for pedestrians and the spokesperson says that this was taken into consideration when widening it.
“Some options were discounted (such as a full slip lane) partly due to impact on the footpath and a refuge crossing for pedestrians,” the AT spokesperson says. “The new crossing is a lot wider than previously but as forward sight distance is very good for vehicles, and pedestrians continue to have priority across the vehicle crossing, the redesign was considered good from a pedestrian safety point of view.”
The latest problem is that, since the changes have been implemented, vehicles have been seen attempting to turn right into New World car park from Whangaparaoa Rd, causing traffic to bank up behind them.
AT says this entrance to New World is intended to be a left in/left out access only. “We have noticed there are some vehicles turning right into and out of the site by driving around the traffic island, but the new island in the middle of the crossing should prevent this dangerous behaviour.”
AT will undertake some video monitoring to see if the changes have resolved the issues.
