Auckland Harbour Bridge: Peak hour traffic expected to start earlier as school holidays begin

Traffic is expected to build quickly this afternoon as school holidays officially begin. Photo / Michael Craig

Schools are out for the holidays today - and transport authorities are telling Aucklanders heading north to delay travel plans, as peak-hour traffic congestion is due to hit the harbour bridge early.

Peak-hour traffic usually start about 2.30pm around the bridge on a Friday, but the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says it is expecting congestion to start building two hours earlier.

The advice goes as far as to suggest to delay travel until tonight or even waiting until tomorrow to hit the road.

NZTA general manger for transport services, Brett Gliddon, said: "While we have reinstated two lanes, the Auckland Harbour Bridge is still not fully operational with only three lanes in each direction.

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"Congestion and delays are likely on arterials and local roads, as well as the motorways."

Anyone who must travel today is being urged to plan ahead, allow for extra travel time or consider using the Western Ring Route via State Highways 16 and 18 as an alternative to using the harbour bridge and SH1.

Bad weather could close bridge on Sunday

Adding to delays over the next few days is a massive weather bomb due to hit the country at the weekend.

Auckland is forecast to get lashings of heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday and Gliddon said if things got very bad, authorities may look to close the bridge entirely.

Contractors work on the Auckland Harbour Bridge this week. Photo / NZTA

The Auckland Harbour Bridge operations team has prepared for the upcoming bad weather conditions by putting sandbags and weights on temporary road cones along the bridge route.

"The bridge operations teams has weather protocols for keeping the bridge and traffic safe in changing conditions and will reduce speeds on the bridge, close lanes or even close the bridge if necessary," he said.

"Safety is our absolute priority."

Last Friday, bad weather resulted in two trucks being tipped of after a sudden freak gust of up to 127km/h whipped through the bride about 11am.

One of the trucks hit a steel strut and damaged it.

As a result, the bridge lanes were reduced and saw nightmarish traffic conditions over the next few days until there was some reprieve on Wednesday after a temporary repair was carried out overnight.

NZTA praised members of the public who had started using the bus or ferry services, delayed their travel times or starting using the alternative Western Ring Route to get into the city centre.