Mangere Bridge work finished

Heavy repairs were completed on Mangere Bridge early yesterday after four weekends of northbound lane closures which radically altered traffic movements through much of South Auckland.

Transit NZ is relieved contractors managed to finish at 6.30am a $2 million project to install six 10-tonne replacement expanding joints in an accelerated work programme without having to extend any disruption to next weekend.

The work was initially planned to take six weekends, but Transit redesigned the programme and beefed up public communications after the first bridge closure in February caused mammoth traffic jams.

Northern operations manager Joseph Flanagan yesterday thanked motorists for heeding pleas to avoid the area if possible over the past three weekends, minimising congestion along detour routes, although traffic flows on the Southern Motorway have suffered from extra loads.