Motorway’s ghost lanes ‘causing havoc’
Officials are being accused of having an ‘‘appalling’’ attitude to road safety with the ghost lanes on Auckland’s Northwest Motorway
The road is under construction but old lane markings can glow brighter in the sun than new lanes, confusing motorists, who are inadvertently driving into the wrong lane.
NZTA highways manager Brett Gliddon says the agency understands the old markings can be confusing and it is working hard to improve them.
Work has already improved the situation along the causeway, he says.
‘‘The best solution is to resurface the road, which is progressively happening over the next few months,’’ he says.
The motorway’s markings have been regularly inspected and areas of concern water-blasted. ‘‘However, this can still result in a roughened texture which can be difficult to differentiate from new markings.’’
Transport commentator Ben Ross estimates about 120,000 cars use the motorway every day, with about 60,000 cars heading each way.
Editor of dogandlemon.com and road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson says NZTA and its contractors often have an ‘‘appalling’’ attitude to motorists during roadworks.
‘‘I’ve personally driven down the road in question, and I can see how easy it would be for motorists to make mistakes,’’ he says. safety issue, and it’s grossly irresponsible for both the NZTA and the roading contractors to be taking this issue so lightly’’.
Waitakere councillor Linda Cooper is calling for orange lane markings, instead of resealing.
‘‘Safety should be nonnegotiable. I never want to hear