Tunnel journey troubles

Adrienne Kohler's trip home is painfully slow. Photo / Doug Sherring

It was touted by the Government as a solution to the last major bottleneck on the central stretch of Auckland's motorway network.

But reality has proved to be something else so far.

One Devonport commuter says it takes her twice as long to get home from her Penrose workplace each evening since the multi-million-dollar Victoria Park tunnel opened on November 14.

New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman Ewart Barnsley said the average journey north between Greenlane and the entrance to the harbour bridge via the tunnel was taking about two minutes longer between 5pm and 6pm since the opening.

He was confident any congestion would ease when the tunnel's third lane opened late this month.

Penrose Business Association manager Adrienne Kohler said it couldn't come soon enough. Her city-bound journey was "brilliant" since the opening of the flyover - also part of the $340 million Victoria Park project that included the 450m tunnel and widening of the motorway at St Mary's Bay - but going home was painfully slow.

She could tell other motorists shared her frustration.

"It's doubled the time it takes to get home. I think everyone was expecting it to get better when they opened the tunnel but it's definitely got worse."

Kohler sometimes left work at 4.30pm so she could whiz home in 40 minutes, rather than enduring a 90-minute "crawl" in peak traffic, which jammed to a halt at the tunnel entrance.

National Road Carriers' Association executive director David Aitken said truckies were also grizzling about bottlenecks. "I think people get nervous coming down the hill into that dark tunnel."

Barnsley said Aucklanders weren't used to driving through tunnels, but that would change. "There's always a settling down period."

Five traffic lanes would be opened this month on State Highway 1 through St Mary's Bay during peak hour, which would slice six to 10 minutes off the travel time between Greenlane and the harbour bridge entrance, he said.

Barnsley also confirmed flaws had been found in the new footbridge across the motorway from the St Mary's Bay cliffs to Westhaven Drive. Scratches were found on seven of the 306 acrylic cladding panels on the $7.9 million footbridge.

The agency has asked the US and German suppliers whether the scratches would affect the strength of the panels, which cost $5000 each. The footbridge was scheduled to open in April or May.

Meanwhile, the amount of traffic crossing the harbour bridge in the month after the Victoria Park tunnel was opened was largely unchanged, Barnsley said. However, afternoon traffic had been heavy as many commuters were trying to get out of the city to enjoy summer evenings.

Auckland Transport spokeswoman Sharon Hunter said extra public transport services were put on for the annual peak in traffic - known as March madness. Returning university students were big contributors to the spike.