MEDIA RELEASE

29 August 2005

In a bid to ease congestion, traffic restrictions will be in place for the Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park on 3 September. Auckland City events co-ordinator, Paul Edmonds, says the traffic management plan for the game will involve parking restrictions and the closure of some roads.

He says Sandringham Road may be closed at times between 2pm and 11pm for pedestrian safety.

Other roads to be closed include:

* Walters Road between Kowhai Street and Sandringham Road

* Cricket Avenue

* Reimers Avenue

* Raleigh Street

* Bellwood Avenue between Marlborough Street and Cricket Avenue.

The area boarded by New North Road, Morningside Drive, Paice Avenue and Dominion Road will be predominantly “residents only” parking.

Mr Edmonds says a similar set of restrictions was introduced when the Lions games were played at Eden Park earlier this year and they proved useful.

“Limiting the number of vehicles that are allowed to travel in the area immediately around Eden Park means traffic is a lot more controlled. Considering the large numbers of people trying to access Eden Park for the Lions’ games, traffic flowed fairly smoothly.

“We’re hoping to achieve an even better result with the Bledisloe Cup game and we’d urge ticket holders get to the ground early and to use public transport,” Mr Edmonds says.

The Eden Park Trust Board say lessons have been learnt from the Lions experience and improvements made for traffic management during the Bledisloe Cup.

Eden Park chief executive John Alexander points out that a record number of people travelled to the Lions games using public transport.

“A phenomenal 7,500 people used the train to get either to or from the two Lions games. That’s around 5,000 more people than the previous record. A further 3,500 people travelled on special Stagecoach bus services on both nights. “For the Test match several thousand people used around 300 charter coaches. We believe this meant nearly 50 per cent of patrons used public transport to get to Eden Park.

“That’s a fantastic achievement and we want to keep improving on it. We have received feedback from the council and residents and have incorporated many of their suggestions for the Bledisloe Cup traffic management plan,” Mr Alexander says.

Public transport providers, Connex Auckland and Stagecoach, will again put on extra services to get ticket holders to and from Eden Park for the Bledisloe Cup match.

Connex Auckland will run the Britomart Shuttle to and from Kingsland Station to meet the expected demand from the sell-out crowd of the 46,000.

It will also operate extra services from the south and east to link with the Britomart Shuttle and is advising passengers to allow 45 minutes for their journey to Eden Park.

Stagecoach will provide extra bus services between the CBD and Eden Park and between Takapuna and Eden Park. It will have staff at those bus stations directing patrons to the Eden Park services.

Eden Park will again sponsor a free neighbourhood shuttle bus that will operate in an anticlockwise direction around Sandringham Road, Balmoral Road, Mt Eden Road and New North Road. Mr Alexander says this is a good option for people because they can park further away from the ground and then catch the free shuttle to Eden Park.

He says residents who live in the vicinity of Eden Park can be reassured that they will be able to access their properties, even if roads are closed.

Other elements of the traffic management plan include new taxi ranks on Sandringham Road and Onslow Road. Signs will be in place to direct ticket holders to ranks after the game.

Electronic message boards will also be in place to inform drivers of potential road closures and to provide traffic updates.

Ticket holders can find further information at www.edenpark.co.nz or www.aucklandcity.govt.nz. Bus and train timetables can be found at www.maxx.co.nz .

ENDS

See also:
Bledisloe Cup match traffic and transport mngt plan

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