Planning ahead to choose the best time to go could avoid frustrating delays on the road this holiday season says the NZ Transport Agency.
It says motorists can do their bit by staggering their journeys outside of the busiest periods and checking the NZTA’s real-time traffic information services for the latest updates on highway conditions.
“Roads across Auckland and Northland are always busy at this time of year, and there are often incidents that cause delays,” says NZTA Auckland and Northland highway manager Brett Gliddon.
“But if everyone allows plenty of time for their journey, drives to the conditions and plans ahead before leaving home the worst of the frustrations can be eased,” he says
Interactive maps showing the busiest routes and times over the Christmas and New Year holidays are available at nzta.govt.nz/hotspots.
“Data from previous years shows state highways will be busy throughout the middle of the day all the way from the 23rd of December to the 4th of January, with some unusually heavy times on individual routes and days,” says Gliddon
State Highway 1 between Puhoi and Wellsford is one of the busiest points on the network.
Congestion starts to build northbound from about 9 am, through to the middle of the day from Christmas Day to New Year’s Eve. Southbound traffic is heaviest from 10 am through to mid-evening from 1st January to 4th January.
The Hill Street intersection at Warkworth, in particular, can get very congested due to the higher volumes of traffic.
“To ensure these are managed as smoothly as possible traffic cameras at the intersection will be monitored by traffic operators at the Auckland Transport Operations Centre,” says Gliddon.
The traffic light sequencing will also continue to be adjusted to allow more traffic to pass through the intersection depending on which direction the heaviest traffic flows are coming from,” he says.
NZTA says traffic on SH1 Kawakawa south of Bay of Islands is heaviest southbound on January 1 and 2, while SH1 Whangarei southbound the flows are at their busiest from 7 am on December 23, again on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
Northbound the peak times are December 23 and 24 throughout the middle of the day.
It says that State Highway 1 at Takanini south of Auckland is particularly busy southbound from about 10 am until 2.30pm from December 23 through 28. While northbound, lunchtime to 4 pm on January 3 and 4 is the heaviest.
SH2 Maramarua Interchange with SH1 Eastbound is most likely to cause delays on Christmas Eve from about 3 pm, again on December 26 through to December 30 through the middle of the day, and again on January 2.
Westbound it’s busiest in the afternoon from January 1 to 4.
To minimise delays most road works on major projects are paused through the holiday period and won’t resume until the second week of January.
In Northland, the State Highway 1 Akerama Improvements project will be the only project where construction crews will remain working.
From December 27 until January 15, Neilson Street will be closed between Galway Street and Onehunga Mall to demolish the rail bridge and replace it with a new, lowered road.
People should avoid Neilson Street if they can as it will be busy in the area.
Motorists travelling to Auckland Airport over the busy holiday period are advised to add an extra 30 minutes to their journey with additional traffic in the area and some road works causing delays.
Narrowed lanes and 80km/h speed restrictions will be in place during the holiday period on the Southern Motorway heading southbound between Orams Road and the Pahurehure Inlet.
