Crashes cause traffic chaos as two seriously hurt

COLLISIONS: A three vehicle crash at the intersection of South End Ave and State Highway One saw two people from these vans taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Two people were seriously hurt and one had minor injuries in a three vehicle pile-up just before rush hour in Whangarei yesterday.

That crash combined with one on Riverside Drive during the morning commuter rush saw traffic held up at both ends of the day when two city feeder routes were blocked.

The crash at the junction of South End Ave and State Highway 1 at 4pm yesterday put rush hour traffic on a go-slow and detour through Arcus St and Rewarewa Rd as emergency services saw to the injured and cleared the crash scene.

It is understood the seriously injured patients, who were taken to Whangarei Hospital by ambulance, had been in one or the other vans that collided head on when a driver took evasive action to miss a car pulling out of South End Ave. The southbound black van crossed the highway and ploughed into a white van coming the other way, Whangarei Police Constable James Harris said.

Traffic moved slowly but without snags as diversions were put in place on SH1 between Mt Pleasant and Rewarewa Rds. One lane was reopened to traffic at 5.40pm.

On the other side of the city the morning commute had been made a little harder after a car crashed into a power pole on Riverside Drive, causing traffic delays and power outages in Whangarei.

A 57-year-old man was driving towards Onerahi when he crashed into the pole opposite the Whangarei Cruising Club at about 6am.

A police spokesman said the man was the sole occupant of the car and was checked by ambulance but was uninjured.

The power pole, however, was damaged beyond repair, causing 66 homes to be without electricity for about five hours, Northpower public affairs manager Steve Macmillan said.

"The pole had to be replaced, it was completely uprooted," he said.

The power was turned on about midday yesterday but electricity was not the only thing disrupted by the crash. Because of the danger of the lines the entire section of road was closed for half an hour. Traffic was limited to one lane until about 8am.

Locals reported traffic backed up to Waikaraka, about 5km away from the crash, and the usual 15 minute drive from Onerahi took 40 minutes.

Police said they were yet to determine the cause of the crash by edition time yesterday.