Auckland traffic: Harbor Bridge’s eight lanes reopened

It’s a monumental start to the workday for the tens of thousands of motorists who use the Auckland Harbor Bridge, with all eight lanes open for the morning rush hour for the first time in weeks.

The locals of Auckland are thanked for their understanding and support, as the New Zealand Transport Agency announced that all lanes on the bridge have been reopened to traffic.

For the first time in more than fifteen days, five lanes are dedicated to vehicles heading towards the city.

It comes after a fortnight load of stalled travel to get from the North Shore to the city during rush hour after a disastrous truck accident that damaged a major strut in the superstructure last month.

A motorist greeted the news with enthusiasm on social media, saying, “The best news to start my day!”

All lanes on the bridge reopened after rush hour last night, after a 22.7m replacement giant strut was successfully installed on Saturday night.

“We know that the last two and a half weeks have been frustrating for bridge users, especially during peak hours, and we are just as happy as everyone else that we were able to repair the damage and get it up and running at full capacity much sooner than it was. I had thought initially, “said Waka Kotahi NZTA, general manager of transportation services, Brett Gliddon.

“We are grateful for the understanding and support we have had as we work as quickly as possible to safely repair the bridge and reopen all lanes.”

Gliddon said engineers had been monitoring the new strut and its load bearing function within the bridge superstructure for the past few days to see how the entire bridge functioned with the new piece in place.

“The new strut is working well and there has been no other damage to other parts of the bridge. That means the bridge can now run on all eight lanes.”

The bridge had been reduced to six lanes since Sept. 18, when a 127 km / h gust of wind blew onto a truck and damaged a strut of the loading bridge.

Motorists had been forced to use alternative routes, often taking two hours to get from one side of the city to the other during rush hour.