Morning chaos on Auckland's motorways

Traffic congestion on the North Western motorway looking east. Photo / NZ Transport Agency

Bus breakdowns and detritus including a ladder and a box compounded chaos on crash-afflicted Auckland motorways this morning.

A series of incidents including two bus breakdowns caused traffic woes for some commuters.

Traffic was at a snail's pace after a truck smashed into a concrete barrier on the Northwestern Motorway.

Police said traffic was already building up there at 6.30am as emergency services cleared the truck from near the Rosebank exit, near Avondale.

The truck driver was not injured.

As the morning rush got underway, a metal box seen on the Southern Motorway near Penrose was blamed for more gridlock.

Then two buses broke down - one on the Harbour Bridge, another on the Southern Motorway near Greenlane. Both breakdowns caused delays.

A separate crash slowed city-bound traffic near Redoubt Rd on the Southern Motorway.
Motorists also had to dodge a ladder spotted on the motorway.

Inspector Kerry Watson said ladders frequently fell from vehicles, but the sheer volume of traffic usually destroyed them relatively quickly.