NZTA: SH1 reopens after Spaghetti Junction incident

Traffic is backed up at Greenlane. Photo / via NZTA

The Southern Motorway has reopened after an earlier incident which closed the northbound lanes just after the Wellesley St offramp.

NZTA said congestion is quickly clearing.

Earlier this afternoon part of Auckland's Southern Motorway was closed after an incident at Spaghetti Junction.

Emergency services were called to a sudden death on State Highway 1 near Symonds St at 3.37pm, a St John Ambulance spokeswoman said.

A New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) spokeswoman said SH1 was closed north-bound after the Wellesley St, Port exit heading north.

FINAL UPDATE: The motorway is now fully OPEN and congestion is clearing quickly. Thank you for your patience. ^EL
https://t.co/dIYqUZeXVj

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) September 9, 2017

North-bound motorists were urged to exit at the Symonds St, Wellesley St or Port off ramps.

The incident was also impacting traffic on other connected routes.

Congestion on the Southern Motorway. Photo / via Google Maps

The spokeswoman said incidents such as this were what the Western Ring Route were designed for and motorists were encouraged to use it.

According to Google Maps' traffic tracking tool, there was heavy traffic on SH1 from the city all the way to Ellerslie with many other arterial routes seeing heavy congestion.

UPDATE: The motorway is now CLOSED after the SH16 Wellesley/Port Exit northbound. Expect long #delays ^EL
https://t.co/pqv1wJfiTx

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) September 9, 2017