Reported in the Traffic lights category by Glen Snelgar at 13:04, Thu 15 February 2018
Sent to Auckland Transport 1 min later.
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The traffic lights at the intersection of Te Irirangi Drive and Diorella Drive are out of sequence, and traffic is backing up all the way to Great South Road.
The signal controlling eastbound traffic turning right into Diorella Drive is not staying GREEN long enough to clear all the traffic queuing in the turning bay. The signal sequence needs to be repaired so that all vehicles in the allocated space have time to turn into Diorella Drive.
Also, serious consideration needs to be given to removing the RED turning signal, and replacing it with the GIVE WAY signal so that queuing traffic doesn't create a dangerous and unnecessary obstacle.
Currently, turning traffic is controlled by a GREEN and RED turning arrow signal. The signal stays RED for long periods when there is no traffic coming from the opposing direction.
There have been significant changes in traffic patterns in this area since the Western Ring Route motorway connection was put in on Redoubt Road. Yet traffic management hasn't been changed.
The number of vehicles using Diorella Drive has increased exponentially. The queuing vehicles are spilling out on to the other lanes. This creates a significant hazard for eastbound traffic which has to brake suddenly to change lanes. This leads to traffic backing up to Great South Road and blocking the intersection there.
During rush-hour, it commonly takes an hour to travel from the Countdown supermarket on Great South Road to my home in Clover Park. This journey usually takes about 5 minutes during off-peak times.
This is not necessary since the signal for eastbound traffic stays GREEN long enough to clear this volume of traffic. The problem is traffic queuing to turn and blocking the lanes so that straight-ahead traffic can't move. Westbound traffic now diverts upstream of Te Irirangi Drive and turns down Hollyford Drive. There are no cars coming from the opposite direction, so the eastbound cars are queuing for no reason.
I appreciate the fact that these traffic lights also serve as the pedestrian crossing for the nearby school. However, school students are indoors most of the day, and they have all gone home by 3:30pm. Casual pedstrians can activate the RED signal manually by pushing the button when they want to cross.
This is a man-made problem with a simple fix to the traffic light signals being all that is required.
Please send someone out to this location to study the traffic patterns and make a new traffic management plan.
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