Subscribe to RSSTrucks Can Use Bridge Lanes Again
Cars will have to share the two outside lanes of the harbour bridge with big trucks again.
Heavy vehicles will again be allowed to use the extreme left hand lanes on the north and south bound box girders on the Auckland Harbour Bridge from Saturday morning.
The restrictions are being lifted as the NZTA’s two-and–a half year-long programme of works to strengthen both box girders draws to a close. The restrictions were put in place to reduce vibration, and to help keep the bridge stable during precision welding of steel inside the box girders.
NZTA’s State Highways Manager for Auckland, Tommy Parker, says freight and haulage industries staying off the lanes while the work was in progress enabled the work to be completed at night with very little disruption to all drivers who rely on the bridge.
Upcoming NZTA bridge projects include the annual reseal, which takes place at Christmas when traffic volumes are lighter, and something called a new freight management strategy.
NZTA says 165,000 vehicles a day on average use the bridge.
5 Comments
What! The bridge gets resealed every year.
Syndey Harbour Bridge, got a patch 50m long by 2 lanes wide this year. And probably nothing else in the last couple of years.
In other news, the bridge still cannot be used by pedestrians and cyclists, and the North Auckland Rail Line decays for lack of maintenance.
So - well done, well done, on spending our tax money!
What was spent on strengthening? 80 odd million, to a large extent merely for the benefit of trucks.
I thought the truck lane restriction was to remain? Someone’s been lobbying.
And as Karl points out, we still can’t ride to work if it involves crossing the harbour without having to wait for infrequent ferries (Northcote/Birkenhead is half hourly peak)
why can’t we just keep the trucks in the centre lanes? If it prolongs the life of the bridge by another 10 years I’d say it was well worth it…