Coromandel holiday traffic continues to build as commuters head home

Some commuters in Tairua have been waiting in the town for up to half an hour. Photo / Google Maps

Traffic is building up around the Coromandel as holidaymakers and locals head up and down the peninsula.

Commuters in the Tairua area have spent as long as 25 minutes waiting to get through the small coastal town.

New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman Luigi Cappel said the busy traffic was not surprising.

"Tairua has just been busy on a hot holiday as you would expect.

"From what we can tell it's just holiday traffic that's just heading in and out but it's quite localised," he said.

Why is there a backlog going through Tairua? We have been stuck for 25 mins heading north

— Jennifer Curtin (@jennifer_curtin) January 1, 2018

Fairfax reported that a traffic controller in the Tairua area had been manning the stop-go sign at Tairua's southern single-lane bridge for three years.

"It's been like this since 10 o'clock in the morning, and that's a light day," the man said.

Fairfax said people queued in their cars for up to five kilometres either side of the bridge.

Cappel said the worst of the traffic in the area was occurring on SH2 near Maramarua.

"The only real traffic that's visible is on SH2, people have probably left it a bit late to head home."

"I'd say most people in the area have been enjoying the sunny weather before the rain in the break."

The transport agency says that motorists in the area should expect delays and allow for extra time on their journey.

Meanwhile two crashes north of Auckland have also caused delays this afternoon.

Two people are seriously injured and two sections of road are closed after two separate crashes on key holiday routes north of Auckland.

NZTA urged motorists to expect delays or delay travelling with the Serious Crash Unit being advised of both crashes.