No easy solution to queues like these, but something must be done, says MP.
Rodney MP Mark Mitchell is throwing his weight behind calls for action on ever-worsening summer traffic hold-ups through Warkworth’s notorious Hill Street intersection.
Traffic has been backed up and gridlocked along Matakana and Sandspit Roads and on SH1 north of Warkworth on most weekends recently, with journeys of four kilometres taking well over an hour.
Local residents and drivers have taken to social media in their droves, voicing their frustrations on Facebook and despairing at the delays. Mark Mitchell is among those who have been held up, after attending the recent Northern Regional Surf Carnival at Omaha.
“I left Omaha at 3.30pm with a whole load of surf gear and sat in traffic for about an hour and a half,” he says. “It’s just not tenable, and it’s getting worse and worse.
“We did a lot of work with the Warkworth Area Liaison Group and local residents and ratepayers the year before last and we managed to get some incremental changes made at Hill Street, but it’s apparent that it’s not enough.
“I’m going back for round two now, to see what we can do because waiting for delivery of the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway, which will come on line in 2022, is no longer viable and we have to try to find another solution.”
He said that included revisiting the issue of widening one of the worst bottlenecks, the Mahurangi River bridge on SH1.
“That’s part of what I strongly feel needs to happen,” he says. “There are property issues and people have rights when it comes to property, but something has to be done. It’s always an ongoing issue, but it can’t stand in the way of progress.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got the consolidation of the whole Northland economy at the Hill Street junction, without even taking into account Matakana, Omaha, Snells Beach, and all the eastern areas.”
NZTA Auckland and Northland highway manager Brett Gliddon sympathised with drivers, but maintain that heavy traffic days are the exception and the ultimate solution remains the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway. The agency is currently monitoring the situation via local social media pages, including the popular Warkworth and Districts Traffic Updates page on Facebook.
“The NZ Transport Agency understands how frustrating it can be for motorists to encounter congestion and we do everything we can to manage heavy traffic flows on the highway network through Warkworth,” he says.
This includes constantly analysing and refining traffic light sequencing through Warkworth, monitoring traffic flow day and night with cameras, rostering extra staff during peak times and known events, and issuing comprehensive traffic information.
“Ultimately, the best solution to the current difficulties in Warkworth is to reduce the amount of traffic through the town centre by building the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway extension, which will take traffic off the current state highway,” he says.
“Warkworth is also identified as a growth area in the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan and NZTA and Auckland Transport are investigating the transport requirements to enable the growth to occur as planned. This will include improvements to the existing network as well as new transport projects.”
