KEY POINTS:
New measures aimed at reducing gridlock caused by the $41 million Queen St upgrade will be announced today.
This follows a meeting yesterday between transport officials, operators and consultants to review a "softly, softly" approach before considering a range of tough steps, including banning private cars during work hours.
Last night, an Auckland City Council spokeswoman for the Queen St upgrade refused to say what the new measures were, but indicated some steps would come into force this week.
Last week, Auckland City transport general manager Dr Stephen Rainbow said if a range of "soft" options, such as more signs and radio advertising, failed to address worsening gridlock, the council and Auckland Regional Transport Authority would consider tougher steps.
These ranged from banning private car parking and banning private cars from at least one block during peak hours, to banning private cars altogether during work hours. The measures could start as soon as Friday and last up to a year, he said.
The council has admitted it had no idea what effect upgrading the busiest section of Queen St would have on traffic and public transport when it applied for resource consent last October.
The council did no modelling work to assess the effect of the 21,000 motor vehicle and 900 bus movements on Queen St each day. A council spokeswoman said the council took the normal traffic planning approach with construction works, which was to set up the site and see how it worked.
Stagecoach customer service and marketing manager Steve Wade said buses were finding it easier to travel along Queen St since the council put up more signs and started radio advertising this week.
