Auckland Harbor Bridge traffic congestion – latest updates, travel times

Auckland commuters are bracing for a hellish start to the week as waiting for urgent repairs to a damaged prop, which has seen four lanes closed on the battered Auckland Harbor Bridge, causes traffic chaos.

Travel times have doubled and, in some cases, tripled from parts of the North Shore to the other side of the bridge this morning.

To get there from Silverdale, using the Harbor Bridge, now takes 56 minutes. Typically, that ride takes 17 minutes.

A 24-minute drive from Albany to Manukau, across the bridge, is now taking up to an hour and five minutes, according to the Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency website this morning.

Anyone driving from Helensville into town, even via the alternate route on State Highway 18, can expect a nearly one-and-a-half hour drive now. Typically, that trip would take 37 minutes.

And make sure your car is full if you’re driving from Albany to the airport, as the usual 27-minute ride over the bridge now takes about an hour.

Transportation authorities warned motorists of long delays across the harbor bridge this morning, telling people to consider working from home.

With reduced lanes on the Harbor Bridge, SH1 is already very heavy heading into the city from Upper Harbor (highway). If you can’t work from home, consider using (SH18 / 18/20).

At 5.30 am, southbound traffic was already beginning to slow on the north side of the bridge, around the Onewa Rd entrance ramp.

At 5.40 a. M., Freeway lanes from the North Shore heading toward the bridge were already showing up in red and burgundy, indicating particularly slow traffic in the area.

At 5.50am Monday, southbound traffic was already beginning to skew on the north side of the bridge, around the Onewa Rd entrance ramp and back onto the entrance ramp from Devonport and Takapuna.

Waka Kotahi / NZ Transport Agency is urging people to work from home if possible or use public transportation if they have to travel to the city after high winds brought down a truck on Friday afternoon.

The resulting damage to a 22.7 m steel prop closed several lanes of the bridge to assess the damage, causing traffic jams and huge collapses in parts of the city.

Senior Travel Manager Neil Walker said the continued closure of all four lanes, for what is likely to be several weeks, would cause “significant disruption” to many travelers.

“If you must travel, avoid rush hours in the morning and evening and allow more time for your commute,” he said.

“Heavy congestion and delays are expected on both sides of the bridge, as well as other state and local highways.”

Motorists are encouraged to take the western ring route instead, but this route will be especially busy as only half normal capacity can now travel across the Auckland Harbor Bridge.

The bridge, surrounding state highways and local roads were clogged this weekend after two trucks were brought down by “abnormal winds” of up to 127km / h, damaging the bridge’s superstructure.

“A temporary solution to reopen lanes may be possible in a few days, but a permanent repair is weeks away,” Walker said.

“We are working on both and as quickly as possible.”

Although travelers are advised to use public transportation whenever possible, buses on the North Shore will likely be late as they join long lines to cross the bridge.

Shane Ellison, AT’s chief executive, urged commuters to give themselves plenty of time to go to work.

“We have a lot of passenger capacity available as recently we have only been sitting at around 50 percent of normal pre-Covid levels,” he said.

“We will also increase the frequency of buses during off-peak hours,” Ellison said.

“Our joint operations center monitors traffic 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and adjusts things like traffic signals in real time so that everything flows as best we can.”

And commuters boarding a train will also need to allow plenty of time, with track speeds remaining at half their normal pace and fewer services due to track maintenance.

Track speeds on Auckland’s trains were reduced from 80km / h to 40km / h in mid-August as contractors urgently work to replace 100km of track in six months.

The frequency of commuter services has also been cut in half, meaning that some trips may take 50% longer than before the changes.

A spokesperson for Auckland Transport said speed restrictions would remain in place this week, but an increase in people working from home due to Covid-19 meant there were plenty of seats available.

“Last week the trains were half full compared to normal,” he said.

In the meantime, buses will replace trains on the Southern Line between Newmarket and Penrose for a month from today, as urgent improvements to the Auckland metro rail network continue.

It follows the four-week closure of the eastern line between Otahuhu and Britomart, which will reopen to trains starting today.

Additional seats available on board AT buses

If possible, Auckland commuters should consider traveling off-peak while repair work continues, Auckland Transport says.

Based on the typical number of passengers, AT says that for Monday morning from 7 am to 8.59 am:

• Inbound, Northern Busway has 7000 seats available with normal service
• Inbound Onewa Rd has 2500 seats available with normal service

On Monday outbound, from 4 pm to 5 pm
• Northern Busway has 6500 seats available with normal service
• Onewa Rd has 3000 seats available with normal service

As these figures refer to seats only, an additional 10% of standing passengers could be added.

Ferries increase their capacity

Fullers360 will use the largest vessels available in its services to allow for a greater number of passengers, have additional crews working and additional services on standby.

“All ferry services will operate as usual with plenty of passenger capacity available across the network,” said a Fullers360 spokeswoman.

“We are doing our best to maximize capacity and offer additional frequency when possible.”