Motorists heading to work over Auckland's Harbour Bridge this morning are in for delays this morning but nothing on the same scale that brought the motorway to a standstill during rush hour yesterday.
With winds on the bridge blowing a moderate 15 km/h, motorists have returned to using the bridge despite only three lanes open after it was damaged in a truck crash nearly a fortnight ago.
Yesterday the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi was forced to shut the bridge for an hour when winds gusting nearly 100 km/h barrelled through the Waitemata Harbour crossing, fearing the safety of motorists on the compromised structure.
It caused a massive headache for everyone heading to work on the motorway, with both the main SH1 crossing grinding to a standstill and a spate of crashes causing a similar nightmare trip for those taking the congested alternate western ring route.
Today the roading agency is telling commuters heading to work to consider using the Western Ring Route to travel south, instead of the bridge.
At 6.15am long queues were forming back to Northcote Rd from the bridge, and travel times were more than double the normal time it took to get in.
The agency reported it was taking 40 minutes to get from Silverdale to the city over the bridge.
It was taking 50 minutes using the Western Ring Route.
A breakdown on Upper Harbour Highway heading west was causing problems just before 7am, with delays expected on the stretch of highway until it was cleared.
Meanwhile it's hoped all eight lanes will be back in use next week with plans to install the giant replacement strut scheduled to take place overnight Saturday.
Yesterday the transport agency announced all southbound lanes of the bridge would be closed from 9pm to install the permanent 22.7m strut.