Traffic is now moving freely after a 10 car pile-up on an Auckland motorway led to kilometres of traffic queues and suburban streets to a standstill.
People heading to the airport this morning were warned to allow extra time to catch their flights because of a multi-vehicle smash on the southwestern motorway just past the Mangere Bridge.
Fire Service northern communications shift manager Jaron Phillips said up to 10 vehicles were involved in the crash just before 7am on the south-bound stretch of motorway before the Walmsley Rd off-ramp.
Fire, police and ambulance were at the scene, which quickly turned into a traffic nightmare on the vital link to the airport.
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Advertise with NZME.While the damaged vehicles were moved off the motorway, traffic remained heavy for the next few hours.
At one stage it was banked up to Maioro St at the start of the motorway and spilled onto major arterial suburban streets.
Labour's Mt Roskill MP Michael Wood tweeted the bus he was in was stuck in traffic on Hillsborough Rd. He said this was a perfect example why the airport lightrail was needed.
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At least one lane was blocked by the crash with roads slippery from surface flooding.
Another crash on the northwestern motorway also caused delays for traffic on Royal Rd at the top of east-bound on-ramp, as did one on the northern motorway, with the right lane blocked before Greville Rd.
Although both crashes were no longer blocking the motorways, authorities warned motorists to expect delays.
Today was proving particularly trying for motorists travelling across the city as they encountered heavier-than-usual traffic.
