New road designs and safety features are being planned to better accommodate car transporters along Auckland’s Great North Rd, home to some of the largest dealerships in the country.
Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan says plans are still in the “very early stages” and public consultation on the designs is expected to begin in April with construction set to start at the end of 2020.
“At this point, Auckland Transport is concentrating on Great North Rd which is the major concern for issues with car transporters.
“In time, we will be doing similar work on other arterial roads where car transporters operate.
“As part of providing traffic lanes, bus lanes, bike lanes and footpaths the design incorporates loading zones for vehicles including car transporters.
“Safety features incorporated into the design include raised tables at side roads to manage vehicle speeds and more signalised pedestrian crossings along Great North Rd.
“We are also looking at removing the flush median on the road which will stop the unsafe practice of trucks unloading in the middle of the road,” Hannan says.
Auckland Transport says it’s received a number of complaints about trucks parked illegally in the area.
Auckland Transport parking services and compliance group manager John Strawbridge says the council is “worried about safety issues with transporter operators working around caryards particularly in Grey Lynn and New Lynn”.
“Many of these caryards have been there for years and were built without conditions around loading and unloading transporters.
“We have issued tickets but the fines aren’t stopping the operators parking illegally, we need to find an answer to this problem.
“We have already put in some special loading bays on side streets but many of the transporters are too long to navigate these side roads.
We have to support these businesses but we need to make sure they’re operating safely.”
In the long term, the Grey Lynn end of Great North Road will be completely re-designed and the needs of pedestrians, bike riders, motorists and local businesses will all be under the spotlight, Strawbridge says.
In 2019, 82 tickets were issued to car transporters for parking violations along Great North Rd.
This included 56 infringements for parking on broken yellow lines with a fine of $60 and 26 infringements for parking on the flush median with a fine of $40.
Carr and Haslam Transport director Chris Carr, whose company specialises in the transport of vehicles, says he hasn’t seen any final proposals yet.
“Great North Rd, at the city end, is a highly concentrated vehicle dealer zone.
“The dealers are the residents of that area, and they need to be respected as residents who contribute heavily to the commercial landscape of Auckland,” Carr says.
‘Some of New Zealand’s largest dealers are in that zone, and they have invested heavily in a commercially zoned area.
“Road design needs to cater for their needs, and other users, but not to the exclusion of the commercial residents.
“We have some concerns that the reduction in road space does not provide safe options for motorists, or pedestrians and cyclists.
“We hope that the consultation process is driven by logic and good practice,” Carr says.
Giltrap’s head of communications Shaun Summerfield says the company, which owns several dealerships in the area, is talking with Auckland Transport about the issue and will be taking part in consultation.
He says Giltrap is only one of a number of large dealerships in the area alongside Toyota, Ford and Mazda, and the company is committed to operating safely and being “a part of the community”.
Summerfield says the new Botany dealership where pre-delivery inspection can take place is also helping reduce a large number of vehicles to its Great North Rd sites.
Meanwhile, Toyota NZ marketing manager Morgan Dilks says the company won’t be taking part in consultation directly, but its transporter Car Distribution Group will be doing so.
