Road rage chaos in jam from hell

Auckland was plunged into motoring chaos yesterday after a road closure on a major city route left thousands of angry motorists stuck in searing heat for more than two hours.

Many motorists were caught out after Transit closed the Mangere Bridge section of State Highway 2 on Friday night for joint replacement work on the bridge's northbound lane.

Traffic was backed up for about 5km from Walmsey St to Mangere Bridge with thousands of motorists forced to remain in their cars, sweltering in 25C heat.

Some motorists, desperate to get some relief, flung open their car doors, while others had to pull over to the side after their vehicles overheated.

The roadworks had been advertised on radio and in several Auckland newspapers, but many motorists were still caught unawares.

The delays left many angry and criticising what they claimed was Transit New Zealand's lack of planning for the roadworks.

An alternative route was available off the motorway through the Coronation Rd offramp and around Manukau Harbour but that quickly became clogged with the volume of traffic. The snarls peaked around 1pm, with traffic at a standstill.

Among those affected were motorists returning to the city and its suburbs from Auckland International Airport.

Peter Marinovich was one of the motorists stuck in gridlock for more than two hours.

Mr Marinovich blamed Transit's planning for the chaos. He said the situation was not alleviated when traffic tried to converge into the Coronation Rd offramp.

"We were converging on an uncontrolled roundabout and I don't know why but at that roundabout there was a constant stream of traffic coming from the right."

He said he was getting "very uncomfortable" in the heat and felt particularly sorry for an elderly passenger.

Taxi companies were also angry about the delays.

A spokesperson for Corporate Cabs said the jam played havoc with business during the day.

It took taxis more than an hour to get to the airport from the city, even when directed away from the congestion.

"Our main question is why didn't they do this in the school holidays?" said the spokesperson.

Laura Mikaele, a Mangere BP worker, said the service station was extremely busy as customers asked for new directions and shortcuts.

"Some of them were very angry," she said. "Some were not from Auckland and they just knew the one route - they were complaining but not about us."

Peter Goon, a real estate agent in Rimu Rd, said the main problem was that the signs warning motorists about the roadworks were too small so people had no idea where they were meant to be going.

"A lot of people were trying to use the old [disused] bridge. They were driving down there and having to turn around when they got to the middle."

Transit regional manager Richard Hancy said Transit had received a raft of complaints from motorists about the road closure.

"We very much regret the delays people have experienced today."

He blamed the traffic chaos on a fatal truck crash on the corner of Great South Rd and Church St yesterday morning.

"The flow-back from that has meant that the detour route has not operated as well as we hoped it would have otherwise."

As a consequence of yesterday's traffic delays Transit had decided that it would reopen the northbound lane at 10am today, instead of early tomorrow morning as scheduled.

More signs, including digital boards, were put up yesterday to alert motorists today of the closure, he said.

Mr Hancy said because of the traffic issues Transit would now revise its work schedule. It had planned to close the road for six weekends until April 10. One option it was considering was closing the motorway for shorter intervals of time but over more days.

Inspector Gavin McDonald of Auckland police said the traffic delays caused no disruption to emergency services. Mr McDonald said the truck crash contributed to the problems but was not a direct cause of the traffic jam.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY