44 Bowen Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
19 March 2026
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
Tim
[FYI request #33778 email]
REF: OIA-21200
Dear Tim
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of 19 February 2026 requesting information relating to the operation of the
traffic signals at the intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Moonshine Road under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act).
I wil respond to each aspect of your request in turn below.
1. Please provide any and al analyses, predictions, or documentation you did on the
impact on traffic at this intersection, both during the project and before the project - as part
of a business case, impact analysis, or any other activity.
During the planning and delivery of the SH2 / Moonshine Road safety project, the New Zealand
Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) undertook traffic model ing and safety analysis to inform the
decision to install traffic signals at this location.
The fol owing documents fal within the scope of this part of your request and are enclosed:
•
Attachment 1: Moonshine Hill Road cost benefit analysis
For context, this document sets out the safety and cost-benefit analysis used to assess the
suitability of traffic signals as a safety intervention at this intersection, including expected
reductions in deaths and serious injuries.
•
Attachment 2: Moonshine Hill modelling
For context, this document contains the traffic modelling undertaken prior to instal ation,
showing the expected effects of the signals on traffic movements during peak and off-peak
periods, including anticipated delays for different approaches.
These documents represent the traffic impact analyses undertaken prior to installation. NZTA does not
hold any additional pre-implementation traffic impact analysis documents beyond those provided.
2. Please provide any and al analyses or documentation that you did of the actual impact
on traffic after the traffic lights were turned on. This might be part of the project or might
have been done outside the project.
Following commissioning of the traffic signals, NZTA has not undertaken a formal post-implementation
traffic impact analysis and has not produced any written documents analysing actual traffic impacts
after the signals were activated.
The intersection is monitored operationally as part of day-to-day network management rather than
through discrete post-project evaluation reports.
As no post-implementation traffic impact analysis documents exist, this part of your request is refused
under section 18(e) of the Act.
3. Please provide al documents describing how you plan to monitor and change the traffic
light sequencing to manage the traffic going through this intersection, and how you've
currently configured the light sequencing.
The SH2 / Moonshine Road intersection is monitored daily by the Wellington Transport Operations
Centre (WTOC) as part of its management of the wider SH2 corridor.
The traffic signals operate using an adaptive system that responds to real-time traffic demand. Signal
timings automatically increase or decrease based on vehicle presence detected at the intersection
rather than operating to fixed timings.
The SH2 northbound movement is prioritised and wil rest in that phase when there are no side-road
demands. Side-road phases operate only when a vehicle is present. Because the system is adaptive,
signal timings fluctuate throughout the day. The phase sequencing at this intersection has not
changed since the intersection was commissioned.
To provide an indicative overview of how the signals operate during peak periods, average phase
timing data has been extracted from our system:
•
Attachment 3: Phase statistics
For context, this spreadsheet shows average signal phase timings during the morning
(7:00am–9:00am) and afternoon (4:00pm–6:00pm) peak periods across three weekdays in
early March 2026. The data is indicative only and reflects the adaptive operation of the
signals.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to
partially refuse this request. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. In line with NZTA policy, this response wil soon be published on our website, with personal
information removed.
If you would like to discuss this reply with NZTA, please contact Ministerial Services by email to
[NZTA request email]
Yours sincerely
Jackie Smith
Manager, Ministerial Services
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