Tornado Impact on Transport

in Featured by AKT — May 3, 2011 at 7:48 pm | 0 comments

POLICE UPDATE Wednesday 7am
Police cordons will be continuing around Westfield Mall and parts of the Albany Mega Centre.

Police expect traffic delays in the area for the majority of Wednesday.

At the time of writing this release no decision has been made with regard to the opening of Westfield mall and possibly parts of the mega centre area.

Police advise employees in the vicinity to contact their employers Westfield Mall for information in the morning.

Any persons with vehicles stranded in the vicinity are asked to contact the North Shore Policing Centre on 09 4775000 to leave their name and contact details. There is no access to recover vehicles presently.

Police advise where possible for people to stay away from the area.

Latest on the transport impact of the tornado which killed 2 and injured others.
Rail
Commuters are having delays on the Western line as trains are running on 40kmph speed restrictions between Newmarket and Avondale.

Roads presently impacted by tornado:
Roseberry Rd, Birkenhead is closed due to damage to houses.
The internal roads surrounding the Albany Mega Centre remain closed
Bus services presently impacted:
Access to Albany Station has been closed from Oteha Valley Rd. This means the only service servicing Albany Station is the Northern Express.

NZ Bus Hibiscus Coast Services and Ritchies R555, 560, 887 and 880 will drop/pick up passengers on Oteha Vally Rd as close to the station as possible.

Albany Expressway (SH17), Closed confirmed 5.45pm
Bus services affected:
Hibiscus Coast services (R89*) are travelling in and outbound via Oteha Valley Rd.
Ritchies services that normally service the university R555, 560 and 880 are bypassing the expressway.

Kaipatiki Rd is expected to be closed until approximately 10pm.
Bus services affected:
R913 Northstar, R953 Birkenhead Transport

Expect delays to all the above services across peak hour. All will resume normal routes as soon as the road reopens.
There are no delays to Northern Express Bus services.