KEY POINTS:
Can you check whether the council would be prepared to change the position of the bus stop on the corner of Cowan St and Ponsonby Rd? The Link bus will often sit there for quite a while, waiting to fix his schedule, and it is impossible to see around him for oncoming traffic without putting one's nose right out into the traffic stream. If the stop was shifted back along Ponsonby Rd to the start of the block (corner of Ponsonby Tce and Ponsonby Rd), then visibility would be restored without risking life and limb.
Julie Cameron, Ponsonby.
Good idea Julie - and one the bus company is taking on board. Stagecoach is advising drivers not to use the bus stop on Ponsonby Rd at Cowan St as a lay-up position, which should mean that drivers exiting from Cowan St will have only a momentary delay as buses pick up or let down passengers before moving off again.
After Grafton Bridge has been closed to the thousands of vehicles that currently use it, have the transport planners on the city council given any consideration to what will become the main arterial route from east to west on the city fringe, ie: Khyber Pass, Newton Gully, Ponsonby Rd, and the added effect of the proposed Soho development in Ponsonby and its five floors of underground carparking which will generate thousands more traffic movements a day in an already congested area?
Max Thomson, Herne Bay
The Auckland City Council tells us transport planners take into consideration all the new developments in an area and their impact on traffic movements when they approve consents for projects.
So the consent application for the Soho development is on hold until a traffic modelling report from the developer is completed so the increase in traffic in the area can be managed effectively.
The closure of Grafton Bridge will affect traffic and the council is working to ensure that disruption to the public is minimised.
At present about 13,000 vehicles use Grafton Bridge each day and surveys indicate most of that movement is through traffic.
When the bridge is closed during construction before reopening to operate as a bus lane between 7am and 7pm, traffic can use Grafton or Khyber Pass roads to cross Grafton Gully.
Khyber Pass Rd won't be as busy once the Central Connector project is complete because some of the bus services that now use it will be diverted via Grafton Bridge.
Symonds St, Wellesley St East, Alten and Khyber Pass roads will be the best vehicle access links across Grafton Gully.
Detailed traffic modelling predicts that the average journey using one of the alternative routes over the gully will only be around 30 seconds longer, while the Central Connector will cut around 14 minutes from bus trips between Newmarket and the CBD.
I live in Aranui Rd near Sylvia Park and wonder why people are allowed to park on both sides of Aranui Rd at the intersection with Mt Wellington Highway. It can be really difficult for traffic trying to leave Aranui Rd to pass safely traffic entering. With cars on both sides it's a tight squeeze. What about yellow lines on at least one side of the road?
Robyn Mellar-Smyth
Good news Robyn - the Auckland City Council says if the road is narrow and causing issues, yellow lines on one side may be an option.
A spokeswoman said: "Now that this has been brought to our attention, we will investigate the intersection to find out the most suitable way of improving the situation."