"It is expected those still to return to the major cities will do so throughout the weekend, however, with good weather also forecast, a number of day-trippers are also expected to be travelling on the highways."
Roadworks and large volumes of holidaymakers returning home from Northland were blamed for yesterday's snarl-up south of Whangarei.
The traffic came to a standstill along SH1, from Hewlett Rd to Totara Rd, as a passing lane was closed for scheduled maintenance work.
Aucklander Chris Davis, who called from his car at 3pm after being stuck in the queue for about an hour, questioned the competence of whoever authorised the work at such a busy time.
NZTA northern journeys manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult, who apologised for the delay, said the road was being resealed as part of annual summer maintenance.
However, work was stopped about 2pm because of the traffic build-up, and the queue took some time to clear.
