Auckland CBD traffic: Chaos to ease with first Victopia apartments roadblock re-opening

Workers make safety measures on apartment building Victopia, in Auckland CBD. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Good news for Auckland CBD commuters this morning; a major thoroughfare which has been closed all weekend was re-opened overnight.

Victoria St West will be re-opened after days of closure, with roads around apartment tower Victopia closing on Thursday after a 40kg panel blew off in a storm.

REMINDER - 6:00AM, MON 08 JUL: Victoria St is now OPEN. Nelson St remains closed until mid-week due to loose cladding repairs. Be prepared for additional delays as this road closure will affect key routes in the city. ^TP pic.twitter.com/h1up9EQ3ZW

— Auckland Transport (@AklTransport) July 7, 2019

However, Auckland Transport said work over the weekend enabled them to re-open Victoria St West overnight.

Two cranes are on-site this morning.

Nelson St will remain closed between Victoria St West and Fanshawe St and is not expected to re-open to traffic until at least the middle of this week.

School holidays also kicked in over the weekend, with the first official day starting today, meaning traffic levels will be down.

The man representing the corporate body for the repair works of the building, Ian Harris, told the Herald on Friday more loose panels had been found.

By lunchtime yesterday, workers were expected to have finished fitting plywood sheets to the corners of panels needing reinforcement, he said.

This will allow a team of abseilers to throw netting over the remaining half of the Victoria St facade. Netting has already been thrown over the other half of the facade.

The closure of Nelson St will allow work to continue applying plywood sheets on the Nelson St facade of the apartment tower.

Emergency services were forced to close the street block after a cladding panel was blown off the Victoria St apartment building about 10.45am on Thursday.

A witness said she heard a "very loud bang", then saw dust fly up from behind a construction fence when the panel fell just after 1pm.

Several pedestrians on the footpath below had visibly jumped at the impact before retreating to a covered tunnel.

The Auckland apartment building from which the panel fell is subject to $40 million of remedial work which began in March.

AT advises further lane closures are anticipated at off-peak times during the week to allow scaffolding to be put in place.

For details on disruptions to Victoria St bus services, visit: https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/service-announcements/