Wellington Regional Office Media Release

20 October 2004

Motorists urged to travel with care this weekend

Transit New Zealand and Police urge motorists to travel with care and be patient this Labour Weekend.

Traffic is expected to be especially heavy on the coast road north out of Wellington this holiday weekend and it is recommended that motorists stagger their departure times. To help improve traffic flow, Transit is closing northbound passing lanes on State Highway 1 at Lindale and Waikanae from Friday October 22 at approx 1.00pm until approx mid-day on Saturday October 23.

Transit’s Wellington Highways’ Superintendent, Reuben Pokiha said the closures would allow about 100-150 additional vehicles to pass through the area each hour during the busy time.

Transit’s contractors will be closely monitoring the lane closures, to ensure they remain effective. Re-opening the northbound lane on Saturday will depend on traffic flows – the lane may remain closed if traffic flows are still high.

“Detailed investigations and past experience show that when there’s a high volume of traffic and people need to merge at the end of a passing lane, they tend to push for position which slows down the flow of traffic.

“Closing the passing lanes helps increase capacity. It produces a steadier flow of single lane traffic along the highway, which is critical at long weekends,” said Mr Pokiha.

Police inspector John Spence said everyone wants to enjoy their journeys and get to their destinations safely, so he advises motorists to be patient and take extra care.

“We want everyone to arrive at their destinations safely and urge drivers to be patient and drive to the road conditions,” said Inspector Spence.

ENDS

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