"Coming back over the weekend southbound, particularly north of Ōtaki on SH1, we are predicting long delays for people heading south," Owen said.
"Some people may come back on the Saturday or the Sunday - over the last few weeks we've noticed there's been higher traffic volumes and there have been some delays around that Ōtaki area."
Ongoing work on the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway could also cause further delay, and he asked drivers to be mindful of both the roadworks and the heavier traffic.
"We don't want to see driver frustration, we want to see everyone driving safely and to get back to their destination safely."
He encouraged people to make use of the predictive tool at journeys.nzta.govt.nz, which could advise traffic volumes and times based on data from previous years.
As the weather could change quickly, he asked road users to drive to the conditions, take regular breaks and be courteous and patient towards other drivers.
"A lot of road users have really taken the opportunity to explore more of New Zealand and get out and about," Owen said.
"We encourage people to have that contingency plan B in the back of their mind, and take regular breaks if travelling long distances.
"Maybe stop and explore a place you haven't explored before ... just break up the journey and make it an extension of the holiday.
"We know people do make mistakes and we don't want to see anyone die or get seriously injured because of that, so we just need everyone to be courteous and mindful of other road users."
Following the long weekend Owen said the capital would start to see normal traffic volumes and patterns resume, as more Wellingtonians returned home to work and study.
"Once we get through the flow of people coming back into the Wellington region, we are starting to predict that things will get back to some sort of normality in terms of the morning and evening peak flows."
