There have been calls to reverse all road changes that are not MAEs, and negotiate the reversal of those that may trigger MAEs. Any reversals will need to take into account the following findings:
■ a number of the changes are considered necessary to the tunnel operation (such as entry and exit lanes)
■ many involve the introduction of bus lanes or other higher bus priority measures, and are clearly desirable in improving public transport access to the City
■ a large number involve management of local traffic (to prevent 'rat-running'), and were established at the request of residents.
We note that the RTA has commenced a review of the possible re-opening of Bourke Street, and make no recommendation about this.
As we stated earlier, the consultation process did not draw out the overall impact of the road changes. Therefore, in our view, the other road changes need to be reviewed in the light of the lower than expected traffic through the tunnel, and resultant congestion on the narrowed surface roads.
The main area of public resentment is the restriction of access to the City North and Harbour crossings on roads other than the CCT. This flowed from accepting the very high initial traffic forecasts in the CCM proposal and the RTA assessment.