Transit threat hangs over Auckland V8 race

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The Auckland V8 Supercar street-race looked doomed yesterday when the national road agency Transit New Zealand warned it would be impossible to operate the motorway system during the event.

Transit said it had the power to block the race if it believed it would hinder the motorways operating.

The agency could refuse permission to close the motorway on- and off-ramps at Fanshawe St.

In a major blow for the Auckland City Council, its partner IMG and motor racing fans, Transit came out firing on all cylinders at a resource consent hearing, saying the applicants' traffic information was seriously deficient and showed a lack of balance or reasonable caution.

Transit lawyer Vernon Rive said there was not enough information for the three planning commissioners to make a decision and the hearing should be adjourned until the council and IMG provided the necessary information to allow proper consideration of the race's effects.

Chief commissioner David McGregor said an adjournment would be considered once all the evidence was heard, tomorrow or Thursday.

Transit's Auckland manager of strategy and traffic, Terry Brown, said the location of the car race would have a significant, adverse and unacceptable effect on the motorway system and affect Transit's statutory obligations to operate the system in an integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable way.

Mr Brown said the closure of the Fanshawe St on- and off-ramps would require a reduction in North Shore traffic of at least 45,000 vehicles a day if the Victoria Park flyover was to operate at its capacity of 4000 vehicles an hour.

Furthermore, there would need to be a reduction of at least 52,000 vehicles a day on the Southern and Northwestern Motorways.

"The modelling has not considered the particular issues of actually getting some 30,000 people to and from the Friday event and around 60,000 on both Saturday and Sunday," Mr Brown said.

The effect on traffic for up to eight weeks around the event needed more planning, including the targeted closure of the area by 7pm on Thursday.

"The potential for traffic chaos is possibly greater at that time than for any other part of the event. It is suggested that up to four hours would be required to accomplish a full closure of the roads.

"Thus businesses and the public would need to be exhorted to consider leaving the city area very early on that Thursday as well.

"My own experience in Wellington on the day proceeding what used to be the Nissan Mobile 500 was that traffic was chaotic as major routes were closed for set-up work.

"Auckland has the potential to be exponentially worse."

Mr Brown said it was surprising and disappointing that the council and IMG appeared not to have taken any account of plans by Transit to widen the Victoria Park flyover during the proposed seven-year contract for the race, or other construction projects such as the North Shore busway.

Asked by Mr McGregor if there was a way Transit could support the race under its statutory obligations, Mr Brown said it could be held as a one-off but not over seven years because of too many unknowns.

Freemans Bay resident and engineer Don Robertson told the hearing the applicants had grossly understated the effects on public transport, noise and Victoria Park.

The constructions around the park, advertising signage, tree pruning and turf rehabilitation would disfigure it for months.