Transport officials’ bold plans to quadruple speed cameras, fire crews continue to work on the Port Hills ahead of hot and windy conditions and Rocket Lab launches Japanese satellite.
Cars broke down and commuters suffered heat exhaustion as they endured two-hour-plus delays on a 12km stretch of road north of Auckland this afternoon due to road works.
One commuter told the Herald traffic was so bad between Wellsford and Topuni on State Highway 1parents were taking their children out of the car when they saw shade and pouring water on their heads due to the heat.
“I’m burnt as, I had absolutely no water,” she said.
She had endured two hours in the bumper-to-bumper traffic before “taking a gamble” and turning into a dirt road that linked up with the Mangawhai Heads.
“Guys were just going to the toilet on the side of the road, I was like is this really happening,” she said.
She added that she had used over a quarter of a tank of petrol while sitting in the traffic, having only moved about 8km, and better traffic management or at least some sort of warning was required.
Commuters were forced to endure two-hour-plus waits in traffic in searing heat with no warning about the delays. Photo / Supplied
Shortly after 4pm, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) apologised for the heavy delays between Wellsford and Topuni on SH1 due to summer road works.
“We are working with our contractor, Fulton Hogan, to determine how this has occurred and ensure this does not happen again,” regional manager of maintenance and operations Jacqui Hori-Hoult said.
“As soon as we were made aware of the situation, the Stop/Go was removed and two lanes were restored to service”.
The road has since re-opened to two lanes.
NZTA said traffic is still slow through the road work site, as a 30km/h speed limit is in effect, but there are “no major queues”.
Another commuter said he left Auckland at 1pm and it took him nearly four hours to reach the Brynderwyns, a trip that typically takes just over an hour.
“There were people parked on the roadside after their cars had broken down due to overheating. [There were] people getting their dogs out of cars and there was nothing on NZTA’s website advising of the delays.”
Commuters weren’t aware of what was causing the delays and were sitting in traffic for hours, moving slower than walking pace.
“People were getting out of their cars and walking just to stretch their legs.”
The man said only about 800m of road was being re-sealed.
“I was stuck over an hour in traffic and had moved only 2km. When I called them [NZTA] they told me the road works were 7km away from me.
