Motorists are facing delays up to an hour-long in Ngongotāha today. Photo / Kym McNaughton
Hamurana resident Kylie Bronlund said she and her 2-year-old were stuck in traffic from Hamurana through to the roundabout for an hour-and-a-half.
She said it was "so bizarre that they would do the works in peak work hours".
John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh said a number of children were more than an hour late this morning as a result and an alert was sent out to staff to make them aware.
He said the best time for children to learn was in the morning and it was not ideal for them to miss such a decent chunk due to traffic.
He believed works on such a "busy road" needed to be done out of peak traffic, he said.
Ngongotahā Books, Lotto and Postshop co-owner Usha Singh said one of her staff members spent 30 minutes in her commute to work which usually took less than five minutes.
The drive was from Okona Cres to the store and the staff member ended up being late.
Motorists are facing delays up to an hour-long in Ngongotāha today. Photo / Supplied
She said traffic was "not moving at all".
Just last week, it was announced that a section of State Highway 5 between Tarukenga and Ngongotahā would undergo safety improvements as part of the Government's New Zealand Upgrade Programme.
The programme will put $14 million into the Tarukenga to Ngongotahā project which aimed to improve safety and reduce congestion at the SH5 and SH36 roundabout.
The work also included standard safety improvements along 8.1km of SH5.
The New Zealand Transport Agency Bay of Plenty system manager Rob Campbell said as a result of the congestion this morning, further surfacing work has been put on hold until Sunday and was expected to be completed on April 3.
Resealing work was done overnight on State Highway 5 between the intersection of State Highway 36 and Barnard Rd and a 30km/h temporary speed limit in place which would be lifted by this afternoon.
