TRANSIT NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL OFFICE

18 October 2007

Transit to close SH1 passing lanes at Labour Weekend

Transit New Zealand and the NZ Police are again urging motorists to take special care on the roads over the upcoming holiday weekend.

Traffic is expected to be heavy on the roads out of Wellington over Labour Weekend, so in order to help improve traffic flow, the northbound passing lanes on State Highway 1 at Lindale and Waikanae will be closed on Friday 19 October at approximately midday and reopened on Saturday 20 October at approximately 4.00pm. The southbound passing lane on SH1 north of Otaki will be closed on Monday 22 October from midday until approximately 9.00pm. The start and end times of both closures may vary depending on traffic flows.

The transit lanes at Mana Esplanade will operate on their normal timetable. Motorists should continue to use the right-hand lane outside of the transit lane operating hours.

Wellington Regional Manager Graham Taylor says closing the passing lanes allows as many as 150 additional vehicles to pass every hour at peak times.

“Passing lanes work well under normal traffic conditions, however, 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.”

Mr Taylor says this type of closure is put in place routinely and proves effective in not only increasing flow but also in minimising accidents at the merge of passing lanes.

ENDS

© Scoop Media