More needs to be done to alleviate traffic congestion on Auckland’s roads, before the whole city becomes gridlocked, say the AA.
Congestion on Auckland’s roads is increasing at such a high rate it is predicted one third of the network will be congested by 2020.
Rapid growth in the number of people driving in the city has exceeded the New Zealand Transport Agency and Auckland Transport’s ability to increase the road network.
The Transport Agency said the number of vehicles on Auckland’s roads had grown even more than the rate of population, with 44,000 more vehicles than this time last year.
NZTA said all the land available for transport corridors had now been developed, forcing existing transport corridors to absorb more traffic.
Auckland Transport said the rate of congestion had grown by 2.4 percent each year, and presuming this continues about a third of the arterial network will be congested by 2020.
AA spokesperson Barney Irvine said he was pretty confident the council and government had the right plan for the long term.
But he wanted to make sure the city did not grind to a halt before then.
He suggested bringing some projects forward, and using better technology, such as smart traffic lights.
Mr Irvine said it was not possible to get rid of congestion completely, but authorities had to do all they could to prevent its growth and keep the impact to a minimum.