Quartet of crashes leads to Auckland travel delays

Traffic congestion is expected along Auckland's motorways this morning following four crashes. Photo: Stock

A quartet of crashes in Auckland has left a backlog of traffic along the city's highways this morning.

Motorists travelling along the motorway network will need to practice a bit of patience as congestion clears.

An increase in traffic is also expected this morning as the first day of the school term sees more parents and kids hitting the roads.

The NZ Transport Agency has tweeted that three crashes on the Northern and Southwestern motorways and in Upper Harbour have all been cleared.

All earlier crashes (on Nthn, Upper Hbr & Sth-Western Mwy's) now cleared from lanes. Please be patient & #DriveSafe this morning ^TP

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) April 30, 2017

But it urged motorists to "please be patient" and drive safely this morning.

The first crash, about 7am on the Northern Motorway, blocked the right southbound lane at Oteha Valley Road off-ramp.

Northern Mwy: #Crash blocking right southbound lane at Oteha Valley Rd off-ramp. Merge left to pass with care & expect #delays ^TP pic.twitter.com/hvk4kkatL6

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) April 30, 2017

Another around the same time, at Upper Harbour, another crash blocked the right lane of the eastbound off-ramp heading towards Albany.

Upper Harbour Mwy: #Crash part-blocking right lane of eastbound off-ramp to Albany Hwy. Take extra care in passing ^TP

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) April 30, 2017

And later, around 7.30am, a multi-vehicle crash blocked the northbound lanes near Lambie Dr exit on the Southwestern.

Sth-Western Mwy: Multi-vehicle #crash blocking northbound lanes near Lambie Dr exit. Please slow down & pass with extra care ^TP

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) April 30, 2017

There was also a fourth crash on the Southern motorway that saw the right lane, citybound, at Greenlane blocked.

Southern Mwy: #Crash quickly cleared from blocking right lane citybound at Greenlane. #AllowExtraTime for some delays ^TP

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) April 30, 2017