20 May 2004

Traffic plan needed for V8 races in Auckland

Transit New Zealand’ chief executive (acting) Rick van Barneveld says Transit will work with the Auckland City Council to review the effects of the proposed V8 car race to be held in the city.

“There are three things that have to happen. The first is that the cities directly affected, Auckland, Manukau, Waitakere, North Shore as well as Auckland Regional Council must support this event,” he said.

“In addition, there needs to be a viable plan for traffic management. That’s a lot more than what we normally do for managing an incident or roadworks. We have to be assured that people can move about and that Auckland will be able to continue to operate.

“Transit will also need to be involved in the process from now until after the event,” Mr van Barneveld said.

“It’s a matter of balancing the needs of the people of Auckland, the wishes of the event managers with our responsibilities to efficiently manage the state highways. We are taking seriously our responsibility for the highway network through Auckland.

“This is not an ideal situation to have the roading network disrupted. But the Transit New Zealand Board is clear about what Auckland City needs to do,” Mr van Barneveld said.

ENDS

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