Traffic pictured southbound on SH1 north of Wellington at 7.45am today. Photo / NZTA Wellington
Traffic pictured southbound on SH1 north of Wellington at 7.45am today. Photo / NZTA Wellington
A major roadworks project has been kicked off on State Highway 1, Wellington, causing gridlock for those getting back to work on alert level 3.
Motorists have been lambasting the queues - which in areas stretch for kilometres - while there have been reports some have lashed out at roadingcrews.
NZ Transport Agency Wellington posted a reminder to its followers on Twitter early today, reminding them that the left southbound lane will be closed between Churton Park to Johnsonville.
The "major resurfacing and drainage work" would take about two weeks.
It will also include two nights of ramp closures and then two nights of a full closure of the southbound lanes from tomorrow.
#ROADWORKS - SH1 CHURTON PARK TO JOHNSONVILLE 24/7 left southbound LANE CLOSURE starting TODAY, Tue 28 Apr, with works scheduled to take up to two weeks. Two nights of ramp closures and then two nights of a full southbound CLOSURE start tomorrow, Wed 29 Apr. ^IF pic.twitter.com/KapDR5zWWA
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Wellington (@WakaKotahiWgtn) April 27, 2020
A woman wrote on a Wellington traffic updates page that some workers were "copping tonnes of abuse from passing motorists and even getting things THROWN at them today"
Another wrote that, at 10.15am, it took her an hour to get from Tawa to Johnsonville.
However, NZTA says traffic was now easing with queues back to Grenada North but reminded people to continue to expect delays.
SH1 TAWA TO JOHNSONVILLE, SOUTHBOUND - CONGESTION - 7:45AM Due to major resurfacing & drainage works, southbound traffic is currently CONGESTED between Tawa & Johnsonville. Please expect significant delays & plan your journey accordingly allowing extra time for your travels. ^EH pic.twitter.com/2S5S721iQx
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Wellington (@WakaKotahiWgtn) April 27, 2020
However, the delays have shocked many locals, with comments including: "OMG ... are all those people really going to work?", and "Wow. Didn't take long to be back to normal."
UPDATE 10:25AM Southbound congestion is now EASING and queues are currently back to Grenada North. Please continue to expect DELAYS. We will provide a final update when queues have fully eased. ^EHhttps://t.co/X0p3u1ERsG
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Wellington (@WakaKotahiWgtn) April 27, 2020