A single-vehicle crash closed part of Dunedin's Southern Motorway for a time this morning, close to where a multi-vehicle accident snarled traffic for hours yesterday.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi advised of the crash, near the Burnside overbridge, just before 8am, saying the motorway was closed to southbound traffic near the Riselaw Rd overbridge.
In an update about 8.35am NZTA said the road had reopened but urged motorists to take care.
Police said there were no reports of injuries.
Yesterday, a crash involving four vehicles occurred in much the same area. One car, believed to have hit the median barrier, flipped on to its roof trapping an occupant inside.
One person was transported to hospital with moderate injuries.
"Please take care on the roads and footpaths. Our contractors are out checking and treating main roads as required," the DCC said.
In North Dunedin, Queen St, Regent St and Cosy Dell Rd were closed to traffic because of ice at the intersection.
The council said Orbus had advised the 15 Ridge Runner service, both northbound and southbound, was cancelled until 10am due to ice.
All highways are open in the South this morning, but icy conditions have prompted area warnings on State Highways 85 and 87.
Inland, the Queenstown Lakes District Council says there is freezing fog from the top of Cromwell Gorge to Kawarau Gorge through Arrow Junction and through to Kingston.
The resort has endured several days of icy roads which have led to crashes and bus cancellations.
In Dunedin, police were warning motorists to drive carefully amid icy conditions after two multiple-vehicle crashes yesterday.
As well as the Southern Motorway crash, in the city Cosy Dell Rd was temporarily closed after icy conditions appeared to be the cause of a three-vehicle crash.
Acting Inspector Karl Hemmingsen advised motorists to drive to the conditions, ensure their vehicles were properly defrosted before driving and maintain a safe following distance.
‘‘If everyone is driving to the conditions at safe following distances and being prudent, careful drivers, hopefully we would like to see no more crashes on the motorway for the remainder of the winter and beyond.’’
Yesterday morning’s crash raised the total number of crashes on the Southern Motorway to at least five since February, all occurring from the descent at Lookout Point.
Acting Insp Hemmingsen said he was not certain this was more crashes than usual for that particular stretch of the motorway, but they did seem to happen a lot.
The difference was crashes on the Southern Motorway could affect a lot of people.
‘‘If something goes wrong, it causes mayhem for people getting to work.’’
There were a lot of variables: the gradient of the hill, morning traffic, the number of intersections and, of course, the driver.
People seemed to forget how to drive when winter arrived, Acting Insp Hemmingsen said.
‘‘We could have the same frost as [yesterday] in late August, and it wouldn’t be anywhere near as many crashes because people have adjusted to the conditions.’’
MetService meteorologist Paris Marshall said a high pressure system hanging around New Zealand had made nights colder and created icy conditions.
The temperature dropped to -4.8˚C in Momona about 8am yesterday.
It would be similar today and slightly warmer tomorrow, before getting colder again at the weekend.
‘‘School holidays will start to feel cold to start them off, which is a bit unfortunate — unless you like cold weather.’’
