Auckland Harbour Bridge stays open as worst of today's weather passes

The Auckland Harbour Bridge has survived the worst of today's weather and did not close in today's high winds.

The NZ Transport Agency had earlier warned that the bridge could be closed as wind gusts were forecast to hit 110km/h.

But the agency said the period of unsettled and predicted high winds has passed without incident.

Agency senior journey manager Neil Walker said the bridge operations team were ready to close some lanes after Metservice forecast a wind shift and a sharp increase in wind gusts up to 90km/h.

"Our threshold for closing lanes was the wind gusting to 80km/h. The wind got to 74km/h before easing back just after 10am," Walker said.

"Wind gusts up to 90km/h would have closed the bridge as we take a conservative approach to the safety of the bridge and our customers at this time.

"Metservice says the worst of the morning's windy weather front has now passed over Auckland, so we're standing down on lane closures for now."

At 10am the there was moderate traffic on the bridge.

As a safety precaution, double decker buses were replaced with single decker ones for weekend services over the bridge.

Motorcyclists and drivers of high-sided vehicles have also been advised to stay off the bridge and use the Western Ring Route on SH16 and SH18.

More unsettled weather with wind gusts up to 75km/h is forecast for Monday morning with winds up to 80km/h on Tuesday.

"The Auckland Harbour Bridge is safe for use despite the damage done to the superstructure last Friday. However, it is in a vulnerable state until we complete a permanent repair so we want to do all we can to protect the bridge and the people using it. Safety is our absolute priority."

A MetService spokesman said there was a number of fronts moving over the country today.

The upper North Island got its main wave this morning, with heavy rainfall and strongest winds.

"Into the afternoon things start to ease off, before the next front moves through overnight which will not be as intense as today's front," the spokesman said.

Auckland was gridlocked after the bridge was damaged in high winds on September 18. A truck carrying a shipping container driving southbound on Auckland's Harbour Bridge was blown sideways by wind gusting up to 127km/h, seriously damaging the structure.

Another "medium-sized" truck heading north was also caught in the freak wind gusts and was blown across two lanes of traffic before toppling onto a movable barrier where it remained stuck.

The accidents meant Auckland's roads and public transport network descended into chaos as traffic banked up for kilometres along the city's Northern and Northwestern motorways.

"The truck striking the bridge has damaged the superstructure, with a steel upright sheared off," Walker said.

Motorists attempting to make their way home at the time to the west and north of the city reported being stuck in traffic for hours.

On average, more than 170,000 vehicles cross the bridge on weekdays. Its eight lanes are changed four times a day into different configurations to adjust to peak-time traffic flows.

The latest incident re-ignited the second harbour crossing debate.