Newmarket viaduct lanes to be shrunk at night

Barriers hiding building work are being put up. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Motorists faced with a new speed limit of 70km/h on Newmarket Viaduct's southern carriageway will also have to cope with partial lane closures at night over the next fortnight.

On Sunday night, Transport Agency contractors reduced the width of each of the three southbound lanes from 3.45m to 3.1m, to make room for large screens to reduce distraction to drivers from construction of a $215 million replacement viaduct.

That required closure of the southbound carriageway in an operation postponed from the previous weekend because of bad weather.

But the contractors had to return last night to put the finishing touches on lane markings, after being interrupted by rain again early yesterday.

Partial lane closures will continue for up to 10 more nights, including tonight, as screens are erected along the northern lip of the carriageway.

These is in preparation for the first sections of the new viaduct's motorway deck, which will make four southbound lanes available from 2011.

The speed limit on the viaduct's northbound carriageway has been reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h to allow for visual distractions. Mathew Dearnaley