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By Simeon Brown, Member of Parliament for Pakuranga It’s fantastic to see the Reeves Road Flyover fully open now in both directions, and a whole week earlier than was previously announced. With two lanes in both directions, drivers will be seeing improved travel times both on their way out of Pakuranga, and on their way home. Traffic congestion has plagued east Auckland for decades and while this won’t solve everything, it will make a real difference, allowing locals to get where they need to go faster, and more safely. There will still be some delays for the next couple of months primarily due to ongoing construction down at the old Ti Rakau Drive intersection. Specifically, the right-turn lane from Ti Rakau Drive onto the South Eastern Highway for traffic coming from the direction of Panmure will be closed between Labour Day weekend and Christmas. This means traffic from that direction will have to travel up Pakuranga Road and use the Flyover to get onto the Highway. Traffic coming from Botany will still be able to turn left onto the South Eastern Highway as normal during this period. I’ve been assured the Eastern Busway team and Auckland Transport (AT) will continue to monitor traffic flows in the area closely, adjusting things like traffic light phasing when needed. For full details on the works still to come, visit the official website at easternbusway.nz. I’ve also heard from a lot of Pakuranga motorists regarding the speed limit on the Flyover, which is 50km/h, while Pakuranga Road is 60km/h. This is an issue I’ll be raising with AT, as it makes little sense to have a slower speed limit on the Reeves Road Flyover than on Pakuranga Road. If you have a view on increasing the speed limit on the Reeves Road Flyover to 60km/h, please contact my office on 09 572 0000 or by email at PakurangaMP@parliament.govt.nz. Thank you to the entire Eastern Busway team for the incredible work to get the Flyover completed, five months ahead of schedule, and under budget. This is a real testament to the efforts of everyone who’s worked on this project and should serve as an example of how we can build infrastructure more efficiently in New Zealand. While work continues in the area please drive with care, and feel free to get in touch with my office to report any issues, as we’ll continue working closely with the busway team and AT.
