Motorists willing to skirt V8 race

By BERNARD ORSMAN

A survey showing eight out of 10 drivers would take action to avoid traffic congestion on the Friday of the proposed V8 supercar race has been released to counter criticism of the event.

Event promoter IMG and the Auckland City Council commissioned the survey to find out drivers' travel intentions during the three-day event.

It follows concerns by Transit New Zealand and the North Shore City Council that not enough has been done to manage the traffic impacts of the event.

IMG race event manager Dean Calvert said the survey confirmed what they already knew - that people would take steps to avoid traffic congestion.

He said if people had known in advance about Monday's traffic accident that closed the Fanshawe St entry to Auckland City they would have avoided the Northern Motorway and the harbour bridge.

The V8 supercar race would close the Fanshawe St motorway on and off-ramps for three days if the organisers got approval to hold the event for seven years from April 2006.

The $45,000 survey of 981 private motorists who drive into central Auckland on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday found that 78 per cent of drivers north of the Harbour Bridge would definitely or very likely take some action to avoid traffic congestion on the Friday, and 59 per cent would definitely use public transport or other steps to come into the city.

Only 8 per cent of drivers from the north said they would or could not consider getting out of their cars to travel to Central Auckland on the Friday.

For the rest of Auckland, 83 per cent of Friday motorists would definitely or very likely take action to avoid traffic congestion and 58 per cent would take avoidance measures.

About 63 per cent of motorists would definitely or very likely avoid travelling through Auckland City on Saturday and Sunday.

The survey, prepared by Gravitas Research, covered private motorists but not professional drivers such as taxi and courier drivers.

It also found a high level of interest in the race, with one in six drivers saying they would definitely attend.