Bid to ease congestion

4 February 2014
Council has stationed stop-go' personnel at the temporary roundabout at the intersection of Shakespeare Street and SH1 in a bid to ease traffic congestion caused by the partial closure of the Victoria bridge.

Waipa District Council's manager road corridor Dawn Inglis said the move should provide some relief to motorists on Shakespeare Street but said it would not clear the backlog totally.

Partially closing the Victoria Bridge was always going to cause an issue with traffic and we ask people to be tolerant and patient while it calms down, she said.

We absolutely acknowledge that it's causing disruption and ask people to consider walking their children to school if possible, taking alternative routes, staggering work start times or considering car-pooling. We thank those who are already doing that - it is much appreciated.

Council said it would continue to monitor traffic and was actively considering the option of changing the direction of traffic flow during the day to assist. However, there were significant cost implications in that because of the additional resource needed to manage changing traffic flows.

We're concerned that having traffic flow in both directions but at different times could potentially make the situation worse. That's the last thing we need, Ms Inglis said.

We know the current delays are unacceptable and we are working hard to find a way to improve the situation.

Any decision to change the current flows would be made later this week. For up-to-date information please see council's website www.waipadc.govt.nz.

Ends

For further information please contact Jeanette Tyrrell 027 507 7599