Heavy traffic and roadworks makes trip south slow

Backlog of traffic means slow progress south of Whangarei.

Update 7.36pm

The New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) has apologised for delays on State Highway 1 near Whangarei this afternoon after a passing lane closure at Mata for maintenance work resulted in a 5km queue of southbound traffic

The NZTA was resealing a one-kilometre section of the highway from Hewlett Road to Totara Road, as part of its annual summer maintenance works programme, when a queue of traffic began to form at about 1pm.

NZTA Northland and Auckland North journey manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said the work was stopped and the lane re-opened at about 2pm, however it was taking time to clear the queue because of the large numbers of motorists heading south.

''The delays are being compounded by the loose chip that still remains on the highway. Motorists are travelling through the area well below the 50km/h speed restriction which means it is taking extra time to clear the queue of traffic which extends back to Whangarei.''

Ms Hori-Hoult says the Transport Agency apologised for the delays and the inconvenience that had been caused to motorists.

"We hope to have traffic fully flowing again by early evening and will resume the work in off-peak hours."

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Update 6pm

The slowing moving traffic heading south of Whangarei on SH1 is easing, but the cause large patches of resurfacing between Whangarei and the Marsden Point turn-off.

Resurfacing is expected to continue tomorrow morning, but police are monitoring the situation.

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Heavy traffic on State Highway 1 combined with roadworks has made for a slow journey south of Whangarei but police are urging motorists to stay calm.

One motorist heading to Auckland said it took nearly an hour to travel five minutes past Oakleigh at 1.30pm today.

She said there were no road work signs until motorists were on the stretch of road being immediately worked on and a backlog about 10km had formed.

Inspector Murray Hodson said a majority of holiday makers were heading home today and he anticipated the traffic flows would be heavy.

Highway patrol staff were about to start and would be sent out on the main roads.

"A majority of traffic will be heading home. Drivers should keep their distances and take a break after two hours when fatigue sets in," Mr Hodson said.

Any incidents of bad driving could be reported to police on *555.