SH 20 Waterview tunnel and connection

[Old Steve]

I've used the South Western motorway, SH20, from Wiri to Maioro St for the first time last night. Work is going on beyond Maioro St on the Waterview tunnel and connection, so I looked at the plans for these roadworks (Waterview connection brochure on the inter-webby thing).

And my first reaction was WTF!!!!!!

There are no exits/entrances on the new stretch of the South Western SH 20 motorway until you're on the North Western motorway at Te Atatu or Western Springs. You just won't be able to exit or join the South Western motorway SH 20 at New North Road or Great North Road. All you can do when you come out of the Waterview tunnel is swing left onto SH 16 to Te Atatu, and the west or swing right onto SH 16 heading into the city. Get off locally, nope!

Didn't the planners realise that the suburbs of Avondale, Mt Albert, St Lukes, Waterview and Pt Chevalier existed? Was this a National Roads funded project and they just wouldn't provide any internal-city routes to those bloody Aucklanders? This feels like a bureaucratic decision to me, either on philosophical or political grounds. Whatever the reason, I can't believe that this is a motorway link that goes through these suburbs and you can't get off at any of them.

Bloody Nora!! The expression, "To spoil a ship for a halfpence of tar" springs to mind. A couple of exit/entrance ramps wouldn't have made much of a budget difference in a project of this size. Basic engineering, you do a job once and you do it right!

Bewildered of Auckland

[Gremlin]

Aucklanders are used to on/off ramps close together, but it's actually really not efficient as during some periods traffic slows down at every interchange.

You look at other places like London, where interchanges can be 10 miles apart (or more) so if you miss one... you're going to keep driving for a while.

The original intent for that motorway was to link the SW and NW together, creating a, a second viable route to bypass the CBD, and b, a viable route for the west to reach the airport more efficiently.

[Moi]

There was enough opposition to what is being built without adding interchanges in "sensitive areas" like the Oakley Creek area. The Waterview link's primary objective is to provide an alternate link between the southern motorway and the north-western motorway not to provide inter-suburb connections, they are a bonus.

Those older suburbs have good arterial roads and you probably make better time on those then using the motorway system, especially if travelling across rather than in/out, once the Waterview link is operational.

Many are just pleased that what is being built is being built...

[caspernz]

C'mon now, the distance from Maioro to Waterview is what? 5 km at most...sounds closely spaced by int'l standards :laugh:

[Akzle]

no. Fuck that. Have you seen those morons trying to merge on to a motorway? They have traffic lights to tell them how not to fuck shit up. And they still do.
No exits= faster road.(/more carparking for 3 hours a day)

[Ulsterkiwi]

no. Fuck that. Have you seen those morons trying to merge on to a motorway? They have traffic lights to tell them how not to fuck shit up. And they still do.
No exits= faster road.(/more carparking for 3 hours a day)

exactamundo, it never fails to amaze me how incompetent so many drivers are at merging onto a fast moving road. The idea that joining traffic gets up to speed before it tries to join, rather than the flow of traffic adjusting for those doing the joining seems lost on huge numbers of people. The mentality seems to be putting on an indicator gives you the automatic right to join traffic. Sorry to say but Auckland has that habit particularly badly.
Reducing the number of on/off ramps is not a bad thing in my mind. The idea of major roads is to link major locations not provide an on ramp for suburbia.

[Moi]

... The mentality seems to be putting on an indicator gives you the automatic right to join traffic...

No, hang-on a minute... cause it does, especially if I'm on my phone and drinking coffee at the same time...

[TheDemonLord]

Aucklanders are used to on/off ramps close together, but it's actually really not efficient as during some periods traffic slows down at every interchange.

You look at other places like London, where interchanges can be 10 miles apart (or more) so if you miss one... you're going to keep driving for a while.

The original intent for that motorway was to link the SW and NW together, creating a, a second viable route to bypass the CBD, and b, a viable route for the west to reach the airport more efficiently.

This, also you need proper arterial roads between your on/off ramps to your suburbs.

[Gremlin]

no. Fuck that. Have you seen those morons trying to merge on to a motorway? They have traffic lights to tell them how not to fuck shit up. And they still do.
No exits= faster road.(/more carparking for 3 hours a day)
Actually those lights made it worse in some ways. Some drivers can't hit 50kph before reaching the motorway (and that doesn't include trucks because it's not really their fault).

OTOH, I feel it is my duty to make sure I'm up to speed... so green is like a race start :D

[rambaldi]

Actually those lights made it worse in some ways. Some drivers can't hit 50kph before reaching the motorway (and that doesn't include trucks because it's not really their fault).

OTOH, I feel it is my duty to make sure I'm up to speed... so green is like a race start :D

Until you meet those that got released in the previous cycle :(

Do people generally bother filtering through these lights? I don't usually bother as it is only one or two cars when I travel but occasionally it is a few more. I can't filter in the road leading up to it as there isn't the room. There are hardly ever any bikes at this particular on-ramp to mimic (when there was one he was quite a bit more adventurous between a couple trucks that I would ever be)

[nzspokes]

Stating the obvious but its a tunnel. Cars cant exactly run up stairs.

[Gremlin]

Until you meet those that got released in the previous cycle :(

Do people generally bother filtering through these lights? I don't usually bother as it is only one or two cars when I travel but occasionally it is a few more. I can't filter in the road leading up to it as there isn't the room. There are hardly ever any bikes at this particular on-ramp to mimic (when there was one he was quite a bit more adventurous between a couple trucks that I would ever be)
Yep, filter, use T lanes etc. Just can't use truck lanes as that's a special vehicle lane which we can't use.

Filter through, in the CBD southbound I usually use the RHS as it's just easier when the cars decide to be all over the lanes. Some of the ramps I use are completely full of vehicles. Don't go on the red when you get to the front as then you're running a red light. Wait for green.... GO! :D (+ points for timing it so you hit it on a green, no feet down).

[Swoop]

Do people generally bother filtering through these lights?

Abso-fucking-lutely.
Don't stop at all, at any of them.

In the tin-top I refuse to stop and will go when the car ahead goes.
Fuck them. It was an idiotic idea of a politician to "free-up the motorways" whilst putting the traffic congestion onto city council property.

Fuck them.

[Moi]

Abso-fucking-lutely.
Don't stop at all, at any of them.

In the tin-top I refuse to stop and will go when the car ahead goes.
Fuck them. It was an idiotic idea of a politician to "free-up the motorways" whilst putting the traffic congestion onto city council property.

Fuck them.

You rebel... :whistle:

[Old Steve]

Stating the obvious but its a tunnel. Cars cant exactly run up stairs.

Actually its only about half tunnel, it's above ground from the east to just before New North Road so an exit could be fitted in there, and there must be a cutting just around where Blockhouse Bay Rd meets Gt Nth Rd so an exit could be worked into the scheme of things there as well.

So that's 3 exits they could have, those two and a local exit at Waterview for Waterview and Pt Chev.

My thoughts are that traffic exiting for Avondale, Mt Albert, St Lukes will have to continue using Maioro St, while it won't be as blocked as now, extra off ramps will reduce the exiting traffic at any off ramps (Dominiom Rd was backed up as I passed). They don't seem to make exit ramps long enough here and traffic does back up onto the motorway and stopped traffic in the inside lane is dangerous.

I register my "I told you so!" card here and now.