By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK
A stalled motorway project yesterday caused chaos on the Northern Motorway.
Traffic was backed up 11km north of the Harbour Bridge, delaying and frustrating morning commuters on their way into the city.
Transit New Zealand contractors were to finish a construction job south of the bridge by 5 am, but heavy rain stalled progress.
Southbound lanes from the Onewa Rd on-ramp to St Marys Bay, closed on Tuesday evening, did not fully reopen until 7.30 am.
The delay resulted in a traffic jam stretching from the bridge to Constellation Drive, not finally cleared until 11 am.
The Northwestern Motorway was also jammed with traffic as motorists diverted around the Upper Harbour Highway to reach the city.
"It was a huge headache," said police motorway Sergeant Derek Peel.
"It would have been less of an inconvenience if the work had been done over the weekend, not on a week night."
Tuesday night's work involved the closure of all southbound lanes while workers installed a 40m support pier under the Ponsonby off-ramp. Transit spokesman Terry Brown said the delays were caused by rain which "slowed" welding needed to hold the support pier in place. "We regret this very much, but we did forewarn over the past two weeks that there was the possibility of problems."
However, he regretted motorway signs which advised a "contraflow" traffic pattern would be used during the lane closures. Many motorists did not know the meaning of a contraflow pattern, where north- and southbound cars temporarily share one side of a road.
Glenfield resident Sandra Cottier said her daily 10-minute trip to the city turned into a 50-minute marathon at 9.30 am yesterday. North Shore urban areas were also clogged.
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Bridge project traps traffic
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