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Commuters who drive along Whangaparaoa Road to Hibiscus Coast Highway in the morning rush hour will be able to utilise an additional lane, starting this week.
The morning part of the Dynamic Lane control trial, from Red Beach Road to the highway, commences at 6am on April 18.
Taking on board feedback from the community and considering available traffic flow data, Auckland Transport (AT) is running the morning trial from 6am to 9am instead of starting at 6.30am as originally planned.
The system uses traffic control devices, gantries and LED lights to change lane configurations, creating an extra lane down the flush median during peak hour traffic. It has been operating in the afternoon peak since January 24.
However, the impact of the extra lane heading off the peninsula in the morning is not expected to be as effective as it has been in the afternoon peak, due to the potential bottleneck at the highway intersection.
Traffic is expected to slow at the intersection as a high volume of vehicles merge to turn left onto the highway. To try and improve this situation, it will now be possible for two lanes of traffic to turn left onto Hibiscus Coast Highway, utilising one of the lanes that normally takes cars across the highway to Millwater Parkway. Cars will be able to turn left via this lane, as well as using the existing slip lane. Large vehicles such as trucks and buses are restricted to using only the slip lane.
AT network management and safety group manger, Randhir Karma, says once the trial has been successfully completed, AT will continue operating the Dynamic Lanes on Whangaparaoa Road, and look into using the system in other parts of Auckland.
The initial cost estimate for the scheme was $2.5m – this increased to $3m. Info: https://at.govt.nz
