Traffic: Prepare for gridlock in Auckland as holidaymakers return to work

If you're back at work today in Auckland, prepare for a nightmare on the roads.

The CBD is littered with road cones and diversions with 33 streets affected by road works.

Some roads are down to one lane, sending drivers on circuitous routes around the CBD to get to their destination.

Gridlock has already been seen in the first week of the New Year despite lower volumes of traffic before holidaymakers return.

Wet weather this morning has also made for slick streets across the city.

Some public transport is also running on a reduced timetable, including the Southern and Eastern train lines and some ferries.

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A crash on the Southern Motorway heading south is also causing delays, blocking two lanes before Te Irirangi Drive.

UPDATE 8:15AM
Two lanes southbound are now blocked past this crash scene. Please use an alternative route if possible or expect delays from East Tamaki Rd. ^TPhttps://t.co/P7t06pmRnj

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) January 5, 2020

Auckland Transport conducts road upgrades in January every year but has admitted the scale of the roadworks this holiday period is above average.

AT spokesman Mark Hannan said a lot of the work was being done in the period up till Anniversary Weekend, when the city was still traditionally quiet.

One of the key projects is a cycleway from Ponsonby through to Nelson St in the city centre. Since Christmas traffic has been down to one lane in each direction on Victoria St, the main east-west route through the city.

The project is not set to be completed till mid-year.

Victoria St, the main east-west route through Auckland's city centre, is down to one lane each way while AT builds a cycleway from Ponsonby. Photo / Jason Oxenham

A water project in the central city will also be disrupting traffic in Beaumont St, Madden St, Pakenham St West over January and February.

Across Auckland there are 146 roadwork projects under way or planned, with 92 scheduled for completion by the end of February.

Automobile Association infrastructure adviser Barney Irvine said AT planning was paramount with all the existing pressure on the city centre at the moment from CRL works and the convention centre fire lane closures on Nelson St.

"AT's right that traffic will stay pretty calm through until Anniversary Weekend, even though it will build up over the month, so it makes sense to do as much as possible now," Irvine said

"That said, the madness will resume after that, so we wouldn't want to see too much work scheduled after Anniversary Weekend, and any delays could be really harmful.

"It's really important that our decision-makers don't lose sight of just how important it is to maintain vehicle access to the CBD."