Crash causes traffic mayhem at Mount Maunganui

Traffic on SH2 between Pāpāmoa and Mount Maunganui after a crash at Te Maunga. Photo / Samantha Motion

A crash at major road works in Mount Maunganui is causing traffic mayhem this morning.

Traffic is down to one lane at the State Highway 2 and State Highway 29A intersection at Te Maunga after a ute crashed into a barrier at 6.30am. The tail of backed up traffic is stretching for kilometres between Mount Maunganui and Pāpāmoa.

A police spokeswoman said the barrier was now blocking a lane and there was possibly some debris still on the road. Police were helping to co-ordinate traffic, she said.

However, a reporter caught in the traffic said she had never seen traffic as bad at what it was this morning.

"Westbound traffic is at a near standstill from the Sandhurst Drive overpass to the Te Maunga roundabout," she said.

A motorist who called the Bay of Plenty Times said the ute had been cut off at the roadworks near the intersection and a concrete barrier had been shunted into the southbound traffic lane between the roundabout and the roundabout at the Bayfair and Girven Rd intersection.

It is understood there are delays of about 15 minutes.

The roadworks in the area are part of the Baypark to Bayfair project, lead by NZTA, aimed at helping alleviate traffic congestion woes in the future.