By Deanna Harris
St John is preparing for a weekend of possible traffic chaos during the biggest-ever motorway closure in Auckland.
The Newmarket Viaduct southbound lanes are being closed for 36 hours from 5pm on Saturday as the new bridge of southbound lanes is prepared to be opened.
“At this stage we expect the motorway closure to be a disruption but we have experienced disruptions like this before during major events such as CHOGM, APEC and the Commonwealth Games,” says Mark Deoki, St John Clinical Standards Manager.
“We will have additional resources on standby in the form of our motorbike medics whose medically-equipped motorcycles are easily manoeuvrable.”
St John will also be working with police, New Zealand Transport Authority and Auckland Regional Transport Authority to determine the best route to take at any one time.
“Our ambulance crews are well practised in taking alternative routes. We encourage members of the public to take heed of messages from the other authorities around keeping their cars of the roads and using public transport on the weekend,” says Mr Deoki.
NZTA’s State Highways Manager for Auckland, Tommy Parker, says the stretch of motorway normally accommodates over 60,000 vehicles on Sunday alone.
“If normal traffic volumes are maintained, and people use their cars as usual, severe congestion will quickly build up throughout the region,” says the
Mr Parker says the latest poll shows that 83 percent of Aucklanders know of the closure and its potential impacts.
“If the great majority of people don’t drive, it will ensure Auckland’s roads remain viable for emergency services and those for whom travel is absolutely essential.”
The extra southbound lane will improve peak hour traffic flows through Auckland’s Central Motorway Junction [CMJ] bottleneck, and reduce journey times by approximately five minutes.
When combined with the completion in mid-2012 of the Victoria Park Tunnel project at the north end of the CMJ, peak hour southbound journey times will be cut by up to 10 minutes.
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