Auckland Transport has closed the middle lane of a busy arterial road at the centre of a near head-on collision motorists say was caused by its "awful" road markings and signage.
Dashcam footage sent to Newshub this week shows a motorist driving on Pakuranga Rd, off the Panmure Bridge, and heading towards the Lagoon Dr traffic lights.
As the driver came off the bridge, signage showed two green lights indicating two left lanes were open to northbound traffic and a right light showing the far right lane was for southbound traffic.
But, as the driver went through the traffic light after exiting the bridge, they only narrowly avoided an oncoming vehicle. It was "pure luck" no collision happened, the driver told Newshub.
The footage showed the road layout in the opposite direction, which had markings telling drivers they needed to move into the left lane - but it wasn't clear motorists needed to immediately merge.
After queries by Newshub about the road layout, Auckland Transport (AT) said on Tuesday it had closed the centre lane and shut the "tidal traffic system" until safety issues were resolved.
"We are urgently reviewing the road layout to ensure it is safe for motorists," a spokesperson for AT said.
The road layout was part of the Eastern Busway project and had been in place since earlier this year, AT said.
Despite the review, the transport body said on Monday it hadn't received any reports of crashes since the layout had been in place.
The video of the near-miss was also posted on a local Facebook page, sparking angry comments.
One person said, "Who the hell designed that intersection. I'm amazed there are no regular head-on collisions there!"
Another person said, "This needs fixing up fast," while another added, "Holy hell that's shocking".
The driver told Newshub "something has to be done before it’s too late".
