High praise for motorists after motorway closure

Auckland motorists have received high praise for heeding warnings to stay off the motorways and use public transport to avoid a city-wide gridlock while a new motorway was opened.

The new viaduct opened 17 hours earlier than predicted after the southbound lanes on the southern motorway closed on Saturday night to allow the switch from the old motorway section to the new viaduct.

The motorway was due to reopen by 5am today but the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said because motorists heeded warnings to stay off the motorways they were able to reopen the motorway by midday yesterday.

Earlier predictions were that if motorists did not heed the warnings it could lead to the worst city gridlock the city had seen as traffic banked up around alternative routes.

Motorists turned to public transport with patronage five times higher than normal for a weekend.