If you haven’t already done so, you have just two days to give your feedback on Auckland Transport’s plan to improve the Asquith Ave/New North Rd intersection.
Traffic researchers using accident data collated over the years have identified the intersection as one of Auckland’s nastiest and AT engineers revealed a plan to make it safer at the beginning of this month.
The proposal – and the invitation for community feedback – is understood to have produced a strong response, but there is still time for late-comers. Submissions close on Wednesday.
Once all the feedback is in, AT experts will spend about three weeks poring over the suggestions and then come back to the community via this website with a final proposal.
It is not known when work will start, but it may be later this year or early in 2019.
The proposal as it stands was fully outlined in this February 2 story on Mt Albert Inc, which also explains how to give feedback.
In brief (the earlier story, with maps, gives a full explanation), the plan at this stage is to:
– Eliminate the “no right-hand turn” island in New North Rd, and push that further west, with a line of flexi post delineators to prevent illegal turns. This allows traffic from Asquith Ave heading to the village to enter the New North Rd flow more naturally.
– Reconfigure the raised islands at the entrance to Asquith Ave to create a less abrupt turn into the street from traffic coming down from the village;
– Introduce raised speed cushions (with appropriate warning signs) to slow down traffic turning into Asquith from the village.
The Auckland Council agency has rejected traffic lights or a roundabout as effective ways of dealing with the intersection. It also doesn’t support the idea of banning right-hand turns coming out of Asquith Ave. Full explanations are given in the earlier story.
Bruce Morris
Click here for Mt Albert Inc’s first story that began the local debate
