KEY POINTS:
Commuters seriously delayed by major roadworks on Auckland's Northern Motorway yesterday morning are being urged to choose alternative routes between Silverdale and Oteha Valley Rd over the next fortnight.
Transit NZ reported long delays on the motorway's southbound carriageway on the first day of a $5 million-plus resealing project which has closed one of its two lanes along a 3km section south of the Silverdale onramp.
Regional manager Peter Spies said some commuters took more than half an hour to travel the 11km or so between Silverdale and Oteha Valley Rd, compared with about five to 10 minutes along two alternative routes.
At one point, the Silverdale onramp to the motorway was closed to allow diversions of traffic to State Highway 17 via Albany.
Transit is also inviting commuters to use East Coast Rd as a second alternative.
Mr Spies said fine weather allowed the re-sealing project - needed to remove extensive cracks before they fill with water and cause surfacing failures - to get off to a good start yesterday.
His agency will keep one southbound lane of the motorway closed until Sunday morning, hoping to reopen it before noon, in time for holidaymakers to return unimpeded to Auckland from the Anzac Day long weekend.
Repair work will then switch from 9 o'clock that night to the northbound carriageway, which will be restricted to one lane for the following eight days.
