Traffic management in place for Sylvia Park

Today’s successful opening of stage one of Sylvia Park brought an unprecedented number of people into the Mt Wellington area.

“The complex is an important facility for people in the south and east of the region, and will become one of Auckland’s major destinations,” says John Duthie, the council’s general manager of city development.

“Today’s opening was widely advertised, with a host of tempting opening offers from retailers. This undoubtedly helped to attract the large numbers of people today.

“As in the case of other new complex openings such as the St Lukes extension, visitor numbers will settle down,” says Mr Duthie.

A traffic management plan was in place for the opening which included directional signage to direct motorists to entry and exit points, and variable messaging to advise motorists to use Carbine Road or the south-eastern highway.

“There are multiple entry points with which people will become more familiar. Today motorists have mostly tried to access the site from Mt Wellington Highway,” says Mr Duthie.

The traffic management plan was modified throughout the day in partnership with Transit New Zealand, Kiwi Income Property Trust and the region’s traffic management unit as traffic volumes exceeded all expectations.

Additional bus services were available for the many people who chose to visit the complex by public transport.

At the opening ceremony earlier today, Mayor of Auckland city Dick Hubbard congratulated Kiwi Income Property Trust on its foresight in providing a retail centre that serves the east and south of the city, and provision for a rail station and bus terminal as well as car parking.

Traffic management and transport connections were a major part of Auckland City’s plan change and consent to enable the Sylvia Park shopping complex to open. Consent conditions include the development of a rail station and bus terminal as the development continues, and stringent traffic and queue monitoring.

Auckland City will be monitoring traffic flows around Sylvia Park, and is working with shopping complex management to ensure additional measures are in place to manage traffic tonight, tomorrow and over the weekend.

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