Road works have brought traffic to a standstill south of Whangarei as holidaymakers trickle home from their summer breaks, leaving some motorists seeing red.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has warned motorists of long delays on State Highway 1 near Whangarei this afternoon, as a passing lane had been closed for scheduled maintenance work.
The agency's Jacqui Hori-Hoult said a 1km section of the highway from Hewlett Rd to Totara Rd was being resealed as part of NZTA's annual summer maintenance works programme.
She said a queue of traffic had unfortunately begun to form about 1pm -- eventually ending in a 5km queue of southbound traffic.
Aucklander Chris Davis, who called the Herald from his car at 3pm after being stuck in the queue for about an hour, questioned the competence of whoever authorised the work at such a busy time.
"I'm sitting at zero miles an hour -- the road ahead is full of caravans and motorhomes and trailers with boats on -- it's just crazy," he said.
Mr Davis, who was returning with his wife to their Mangawhai holiday base from a trip to Whangarei, said most drivers appeared to be patiently waiting in the queue.
However, some were turning back to Whangarei against northbound traffic, "which is dangerous in itself."
He had phoned an NZTA official who told him a traffic management plan had been in place which was "supposed to have worked, but it doesn't look like it has."
Ms Hori-Hoult said the work was stopped and the lane was re-opened about 2pm, however it was taking time to clear the queue because of the large number of motorists heading south.
"Motorists are travelling through the area well below the 50km/h speed restriction which means it is taking extra time to clear the queue of traffic which extends back to Whangarei."
Ms Hori-Hoult apologised for the delays and the inconvenience caused to motorists.
"We hope to have traffic fully flowing again by early evening and will resume the work in off-peak hours."
Northland road policing manager Inspector Murray Hodson said a majority of holidaymakers were heading home today and he anticipated the traffic flows would be heavy.
Highway patrol staff were about to start and would be sent out on the main roads.
"A majority of traffic will be heading home. Drivers should keep their distances and take a break after two hours when fatigue sets in," Mr Hodson said.
- Nikki Papatsoumas of NZME. News Service and Mathew Dearnaley of the New Zealand Herald/Additional reporting: Northern Advocate
