Wellington Regional Office
Media Information for Immediate Use

6 September 2004

Airlie Road still no quicker than SH1

Using Airlie Road to bypass State Highway 1 near Plimmerton saves motorists little, if any, time according to the latest travel time surveys.

The average time recorded to travel State Highway 1 between Pukerua Bay and Paremata during the morning peak (6am-9.30am) on 4 and 8 August 2004 was 11.5 minutes. The quickest was 6.3 minutes and the longest 25.4 minutes.

In comparison, a motorist using Airlie Road would take 14.5 minutes on average, 17.5 minutes at worst and 13.3 minutes at best.

Airlie Road was closed to weekday morning traffic in March and April this year after up to 100 motorists an hour were using the narrow, winding road to avoid slow moving traffic along State Highway 1. This resulted in long traffic queues forming through Plimmerton village, impacting on local residents and businesses. There were also concerns about the increased risk of serious head-on crashes along Airlie Road.

“After the closure most motorists realised it is just as quick to stay on State Highway 1, and the latest travel time survey confirms that this is still the case,” said Catherine Worsley Transit Wellington regional project manager.

“However residents have told us that traffic volumes through Airlie Road are increasing again. We ask that motorists respect the Plimmerton community’s need to access the village and their homes and not use Airlie Road to avoid traffic on State Highway 1.”

Ms Worsley agrees that there can be times when the trip between Pukerua Bay and Paremata may take longer – particularly in wet weather such as the recent storm, or when there are big events on in Wellington – and motorists are asked to take these factors into account when planning their journeys.

Ms Worsley said there has been good progress in the past six weeks on the Plimmerton to Paremata upgrade. “The duplicate bridge at Paremata is now open to northbound traffic; we have started work on the Steyne Avenue retaining wall; and have commenced work on the second stage of the Goat Point retaining wall. Work is also progressing well on the Plimmerton pedestrian overbridge and roundabout,” said Ms Worsley.

ENDS

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