Police tell commuters 'stay home' (+photos,video)

Police are advising commuters to stay at home during tomorrow's truck blockade. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Police are advising commuters to leave their cars at home tomorrow, or consider taking the day off, during the truck blockade planned for major centres.

Road Transport Forum boss Tony Friedlander says that protests will now be held in 13 towns and cities throughout New Zealand tomorrow morning.

Whangarei, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Nelson, Gore and Invercargill operators are joining their counterparts in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin to protest against a sudden increase in road-user charges on diesel vehicles.

Disruption to traffic is expected to last from 7am until after 10am.

Inspector Simon Perry in Wellington said today: "We expect motorists will need to factor an extra 90 minutes delay into their travel time. The CBD will be gridlocked and we're not expecting traffic flow to return to anything like normal until after 10am."

Auckland police are encouraging commuters to either get to work before 7.30 or avoid the streets altogether tomorrow morning.

Inspector Ross Endicott-Davies said 2000 trucks could converge on the city's streets, after travelling down the motorways, by about 7.30am.

He said there would be significant delays that will affect drivers and bus users. He said anyone catching an early morning flight should think about finding accommodation near the airport or leaving early.

NZ Road Transport Forum Waikato area manager Garry Masters said Hamilton drivers were going to come into the city from the north, south, east and west and create a ring road around the city.

Inspector Tooman said motorists not using arterial routes should be fine although if the city became very congested it would "take a considerable time to clear up".

He said police had been assured the truck drivers would abide by all the road rules.

Tauranga police are advising motorists to avoid the Harbour Bridge between 7.30am and 9am.

Senior Sergeant Ian Campion urged commuters to leave their cars at home and take alternative routes.

He also suggested people get to work before 7.30 am or after 9 am and parents to drop school children off outside these times if possible.

In Christchurch, police said motorists should take the obvious precautions of allowing extra time, avoiding the main two routes where possible and to be patient.