Huge delays on southern motorway city-bound

Road workers fixing a hole on Auckland's southern motorway this morning. Photo/ Holly Ryan

A small hole is causing huge delays on Auckland's southern motorway this morning as road workers race to fix it during the city's peak commuter traffic.

Emergency road repairs are under way after a truck crashed near the Nelson St off-ramp early this morning, spilling debris onto the road.

As a result, traffic was crawling between Manukau and Nelson St shortly before 9am.

A New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) spokeswoman said the hole was formed when a truck drove over newly finished maintenance work in the early hours of this morning.

"Crews were carrying out maintenance work overnight to replace an expansion joint on State Highway 1 just prior to the Nelson Street off-ramp," she said.

"After the work was completed and the road reopened it appears that a truck has travelled over the joint and loosened it resulting in the joint opening."

NZTA was investigating how this had happened and apologised to motorists for this mornings' delays.

"The joint is not structural and there is no safety risk," she said.

"Emergency repairs are now being carried out so the road can be opened as soon as possible and further work will be required to fully repair the joint later."

Citybound traffic on the southern motorway was heavily backed up thanks to the incident this morning. Photo/ Holly Ryan

NZTA warned of major delays and asked motorists to avoid the area if possible.

Only one lane was open and people should merge to the right, NZTA said.

REMINDER: Northbound lanes reduced for emergency road repairs in Spaghetti Jctn prior to Nelson St. #AvoidArea #ExpectDelays ^TP pic.twitter.com/X1nGIAA32T

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) March 19, 2017

Police said there was debris on the road causing the lane to be closed between Wellington St and Symonds St.

Commuters travelling north could use State Highway 16 or SH18 instead, NZTA suggested.