Carrying more than 4,000 freight vehicles daily - and with an average daily traffic volume of 30,000 vehicles - Neilson St, Onehunga, is reaching capacity and improvements need to be made.
Neilson Street, between Church Street and Gloucester Park Road, is a major ‘freight emphasis’ route that enables goods and services to move between the port, airport, motorways and adjacent arterial roads.
This east-west connection is the primary role of Neilson Street and is important for Auckland’s economic growth, particularly with the Penrose/Onehunga area identified as a business growth area.
The $4.5 million project will provide overall improvements in journey time, ease congestion and provide for more efficient freight supply chains. This project also includes a strong focus on improving pedestrian safety at key intersections and improving accessibility.
The project has been developed over a number of years with consultation with affected land owners.
When the project is completed around March 2012, key improvements will be:
Two through-lanes in both directions
An additional southbound transit lane (T2 lane) from Neilson St into Gloucester Park Rd and onto the southbound motorway on-ramp
A flush median complemented by turning bays
New footpaths and signalised crossings making it safer for pedestrians
The widening work will improve the traffic-carrying capacity of the road by up to 25 per cent and reduce bottlenecks through the provision of additional lanes (including the T2 lane to the new motorway).
The Neilson St upgrade is planned in three stages for implementation between April 2011 and March 2012 (excluding the Rugby World Cup period), from Onehunga Mall intersection to the motorway on-ramp.
Stage 1: Neilson St / Onehunga Mall intersection upgrade and improvements to the Neilson Street off-ramp (Late April 2011 - early August 2011)
Stage 2: Widening of Neilson St from Onehunga Mall to the new motorway on-ramp at Gloucester Park Rd (November 2011 - March 2012)
Stage 3: Increasing capacity of the Neilson Street motorway on-ramp and off-ramp (work anticipated to begin end of 2011)
We have been working with the NZ Transport Agency to address congestion problems on the Neilson off-ramp.
A concept solution is being developed and once a solution has been thoroughly investigated, it will be broadly communicated and feedback sought.
It is hoped that the Stage 3 work can begin in the 2011/2012 holiday period to minimise disruption.