KEY POINTS:
North Shore residents face serious traffic disruption throughout the weekend after next, when the lower section of Onewa Rd will close to vehicles heading to and from the Northern Motorway.
The closure of one of the main transport lifelines from 10pm on Friday, March 7, is to allow concrete to be poured and set on a bridge across Onepoto Stream which North Shore City Council is widening for buses and other high-occupancy vehicles at a cost of $2.8 million.
Although the council and Transit NZ intend putting up signs today to give motorists a week's warning of a need to vary their routes until 5am on Monday, March 10, local National MP Jonathan Coleman says there should have been far more notice.
"It's unbelievable that such a major disruption is not being signalled weeks in advance," he said yesterday.
The closure of Onewa Rd between Bruce Rd and the motorway means traffic heading from the Auckland Harbour bridge will have to use either the Stafford Rd, Esmonde Rd or Northcote Rd interchanges.
Because there are no south-pointing on-ramps at Stafford Rd or Esmonde Rd for vehicles arriving from the east, Northcote Rd will have to take the main brunt of Auckland-bound traffic.
Dr Coleman expressed doubt about its ability to cope.
"Onewa Rd is a major arterial feeding straight on and off the Northern Motorway that carries thousands of cars every day," he said. "The diversions for access to the motorway over the closure period will simply be unable to cope with the traffic volumes."
The Northcote MP said he appreciated the need to close the road to enable concrete to set without disturbance from traffic vibrations. But what he couldn't understand was why "nobody has bothered to communicate this to the thousands of local people who will be affected".
North Shore City land development and regulatory manager Chris Glanfield said a need for the work to be performed before major events, including the Round the Bays Run, are held on subsequent weekends had emerged only recently in advice from the contractor for the project.
But he said strenuous efforts were planned to alert as many road users as possible. These included fixed and variable message signs on both the motorway and Onewa Rd, radio and newspaper advertising, and leaflets to be delivered to about 2000 properties in the immediate vicinity.
He acknowledged there would be a heavy extra load on the Northcote Rd motorway interchange, but said "it should be able to take it".
The council is keeping open a limited access route to the Onewa motorway ramps from the north, via Sylvan Ave, to guard against gridlock on Northcote Rd.
The bridge work is part of an $11 million set of projects to widen Onewa Rd from Lake Rd to tie in with Transit's upgrade of the motorway interchange with new bridges, one of which will merge with an extension of the Northern Busway.
Mr Glanfield said the lower section of Onewa Rd carried about 24,500 vehicles a day on a seven-day average, and some 23,500 on Saturdays.
Transit figures show the four Northcote Rd motorway ramps carry more than 38,000 vehicles a day.
