Auckland Regional Office

29 October 2003

MEDIA RELEASE

Major traffic bottleneck removed in Grafton Gully

With the opening of a new section of The Strand today, the traffic crawl through the longstanding bottleneck at the intersection with Beach Road at the bottom of Parnell Rise now promises to be a thing of the past.

After some 12 months of construction activity on the intersection and rail bridge, which is part of the Grafton Gully motorway upgrading project, the new stretch of road now allows motorists to travel directly between Stanley Street and The Strand under the new rail bridge.

The upgrade provides a long-awaited improvement to the port-motorway link which is especially significant to the many heavy vehicles that use this route. Transit Regional Manager Wayne McDonald says that the new alignment means improved and safer traffic flows. “It also means a lessening of congestion and driver frustration as motorists will no longer have to negotiate their way around what was a very busy and complex dog-leg intersection,” he says.

“Together with the other improvements of the motorway through Grafton Gully, including the new Wellesley Street Bridge that was opened only last month, this latest development will help increase overall efficiency of the route between the motorway, the port and the Central Business District.”

Auckland Mayor, John Banks, cut a ribbon to mark the official opening of the new section of highway. The new alignment will be open to traffic tomorrow morning (Thursday 30 October).

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