Fifteen months of road-work pain cut to a year

Devonport motorists are encouraged to take a ferry to Auckland while the road-widening work is being done. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Motorists on the congested Takapuna-Devonport route will be spared three months of frustrating delays because of road works.

Widening work on the Jutland Rd to Napier Ave section of Lake Rd had been expected to take 15 months.

But North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said yesterday contractor Fulton Hogan had promised a start this month and a finish next May.

This was after council commissioners decided to let the contractor work outside the hours of 7am to 6pm on weekdays.

"The aim is for less disruption to residents and people using that area by putting the job through as quickly as possible," said Mr Williams.

Working overtime means fewer lane closures during the times when Lake Rd is fully stretched to cope with 40,000 vehicles a day, including buses and emergency vehicles.

Preliminary work such as drainage, moving kerbs and realigning property boundaries will be done before the construction season proper begins in the spring.

That's when motorists will feel the squeeze, said council senior transport strategist Archer Davis.

The route was most congested in the morning with commuters from Devonport and Belmont as well as traffic generated by Takapuna Grammar School and Belmont Intermediate.

Coming the other way were many of the 2700 workers the at Devonport Naval Base and dockyard.

Mr Davis said a plan offering alternative transport would be formed before major disruption "when we need to get our message through".

One plan for reducing the number of cars on the road was to boost car pooling or ride sharing.

"We are looking at encouraging it by converting the bus lane along Esmonde Rd into a T2 [at least two people to a vehicle]."

The advantage of this would be to avoid a 20-minute wait in the queue for the ramp for the Harbour Bridge or the turn into Fred Thomas Drive to get to the Smales Farm commercial area.

The council was also looking at the mayor's suggestion of encouraging people to take the ferry to downtown Auckland by offering car-pooling motorists priority parking spots close to Devonport and Bayswater ferry terminals.

City councillor Chris Darby, who lives in Devonport, said his travel plan for the peninsula could reduce Lake Rd traffic congestion by 15 per cent.

"This is achievable through a combination of ride sharing, business travel plans, walking school buses, improved school bus services and improved ferry services and bus links to the ferry terminals."

"Positive things are happening, but there are small things left to fine-tune."

Mr Darby said it was the first area-wide transport plan for the city, and it was being supported by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority.