Changes to State Highway 2 at Belmont

Simon from Belmont

Anyone else narked by the NZ Transport Agency's plans for SH2 between the Pomare/Wairere Rds intersection and Belmont lights (advert on pg 44 of yesterday's Hutt News)? From May 19, the intention is to close off to all traffic except cyclists the inside lane northbound into Belmont, except for a 40m stretch for vehicles entering SH2 from Pomare/Wairere, and 80m before the turnoff into Grounsell Cres at the Belmont lights.
The two main SH2 lanes at this point are already clogged with traffic in the evening rush hour. Now the many hundreds of drivers who intend turning off at Belmont, and those who use the Belmont lights/Grounsell to turn back south, will have to queue with SH2 through traffic, and add to the general congestion. The given reason is because some drivers queue jump heading north by taking the Grounsell on and off-ramps.
Hot on the heels of dropping the bombshell news that a Melling interchange is off the books until at least 2028, never mind all the congestion that's coming our way with Transmission Gully and SH58 with the Petone-Grenada route kicked to touch, NZTA seems to want to add to the northbound congestion in the afternoons and evenings. So we're all held to ransom by a few rat-runners who abuse the Grounsell Cres turn-offs, who are described as posing a safety risk. Yet when another daft idea was proposed more than a year ago to close off Grounsell's northern highway off ramp (thankfully dropped), investigations showed Grounsell actually had quite a reasonable safety record.
I'd like to know what others think?