New temporary traffic lights at the State Highway 22 (SH22) intersection with Great South Road will be switched on next week, overnight on Monday 23 June. A minor increase in journey times and some queuing at peak times can be expected for people travelling on SH22 as an inherent result of the new traffic lights, which are necessary to allow for safer and more efficient movements into and out of Great South Road.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) Regional Manager Transport Services, Stephen Collett says the signalisation of the intersection has been a necessary traffic mitigation ahead of future construction work on the SH1 Papakura to Drury project, when the Drury northbound off-ramp will be closed for an extended period. The temporary signalisation in its current lane layout will remain until the future four-laning of SH22 between Jesmond Road and Drury Interchange as part of the SH22 Drury upgrade project, which also requires traffic lights at the SH22 intersections with Great South Road and Jesmond Road.

The expected commissioning (turning on) of the traffic lights in April had been paused to allow the system to gather real time traffic flow data, which revealed that current traffic flows on SH22 were higher than those used to design the signalisation of the intersection. A review of the design was then undertaken to confirm it was optimal for its temporary arrangement, which recommended two additional improvements to further mitigate potential peak hour queuing on SH22 following closure of the ramp, specifically in the southbound direction. Those recommended additions were to add a left turn slip lane from SH22 into Great South Road and to extend the length of the two-lane southbound exit of SH22 from the intersection, where the two lanes merge back into one.

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These two recommendations will be implemented by NZTA and further works will begin in July when the designs have been finalised. In the meantime, NZTA will commission the traffic lights to improve the overall safety of the intersection beyond that provided by the temporary traffic management measures currently in place. Activating the lights will also reduce the cost of temporary traffic management required to implement the additional improvements.

“Great South Road is already a busy route that experiences safety and congestion issues at the intersection with SH22. With our construction activities ramping up on SH1, even before the closure of the northbound off-ramp more people may choose to use Great South Road for their travel, increasing existing pressures on the intersection,” Mr Collett says.

“When the lights are activated and as people become accustomed to the new signals, the Auckland Transport Operations Centre will monitor the intersection to ensure no safety issues arise. We thank everyone for their patience while we have taken the time to ensure the operation of these temporary traffic lights will be optimal for the period they will be in service.”

People are also reminded that the intersection of Victoria Street with SH22 (beside Drury Interchange) is currently closed to realign the street directly opposite Mercer Street. Following that realignment, the intersection will also be signalised as a required traffic mitigation ahead of the future demolition and rebuild of the Bremner Road bridge across SH1. These traffic lights are expected to be installed and operational near the end of this year.

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