Auckland drivers are expressing rage and confusion over traffic chaos caused by the months-long failure of sensors measuring the flow of vehicles near popular mega-mall Sylvia Park.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) announced in March last year there would be changes to the road layout on the Mt Wellington Highway "over the motorway to create a second right turn lane on to the southbound on-ramp".
NZTA Auckland system manager Andrea Williamson said at the time the second lane would reduce the number of vehicles queueing along the road and improve the flow of traffic onto the motorway.
Waka Kotahi told Newshub the civil construction works were completed at the end of August 2021, but AT said the traffic light sensors are not working.
"With these works happening at the intersection, sensors are measuring traffic flows through the interchange, so we are unable to adapt the traffic lights to match real-time traffic," AT said in a statement to Newshub.
"As the works are completed, we will be able to restore vehicle detection - which will allow the intersection traffic control to adapt to changes in traffic."
AT told Newshub in a statement most of the physical works were completed last year, but not all.
AT installed new software last month, but the detectors have yet to be connected, so the intersection is running "blind" at present, AT said.
"We are doing what we can to manage the traffic signals and manage the queues there. We acknowledge the queues are an inconvenience for drivers going through this area, and we ask drivers for their patience as we work with the project contractor to get the detectors connected as soon as possible," AT said.
AT told Newshub the sensors have been down since June.
With the sensors still not working, complaints have been mounting on social media with a Reddit user slamming AT and NZTA for the changes to the road layout.
Newshub first stated seeing complaints about the sensors failing back in June on Reddit when multiple people posted about the issue.
In a post in June, dozens of people voiced their annoyance at the traffic nightmares. Since then, Newshub has seen more posts about the terrible traffic in July and August.
"Thanks Auckland Transport for turning the Sylvia Park on ramp in to a shambles. What was once a reasonable flow on to the motorway south your now stuck behind 50 cars waiting for a green arrow all because they want to put another turning lane on the other side. For every action there's a reaction. Planners need to wake up. Now traffic around Sylvia Park is terrible all day now thanks to this move," the user posted.
Another social media user said the traffic at the intersection is "chaos".
"It took me 40 minutes to get out of Sylvia Park because of those lights. So much traffic stuck at those lights and it's creating chaos at slyvia park ffs. Wasted money," one Reddit user said.
Another user said they started getting "claustrophobic" because of the traffic.
"I got stuck there today. Absolutely insane well over an hour. Simply shouldn't let people get trapped like that. Don't let that many cars in I'd they can't get out again! actually started getting claustrophobic and getting quite anxious how trapped I was. Never ever going anywhere near an Auckland shopping mall ever again other than first thing in the morning. Queue for Newmarket was backed up on the motorway too," the Reddit user said.
But there is some good news for commuters, with one Reddit user finding a shortcut, which could help drivers avoid the traffic in the area.
"Pay attention to the carpark building that has a long bridge to the top level car park, you can exit the whole area there, just turn into that building and exit on level 4 via that bridge," one user said.
Another Reddit user said: "Did the same thing you did, went from the ground floor of that car park up to the 4th floor, passing traffic queues on the ramps wondering if I messed up and was gonna get stuck going down. Nope. It was like the sea being parted, immediately was able to leave the mall and go home."
