Auckland traffic jammed after multiple incidents on the motorway

A breakdown at the Wellesley St motorway entrance ramp has added to a series of traffic problems in Auckland on Monday night.

The fault, which was blocking a lane on north SH1, had been cleared around 6.40 p.m., according to a tweet from NZTA.

Much of Auckland’s motorway network was paralyzed as of 4 pm Monday after an accident on the South West Expressway and a breakdown on the South Expressway.

Both incidents cleared at 5 p.m., but traffic remained heavy through Monday night.

A traveler on his way to the North Shore by bus told the New Zealand Herald at 5:20 pm that traffic was “absolutely horrendous.”

The buses were lined up in the bus lane near the corner of Market Place and Nelson St.

Another motorist said that he left a business on Victoria St West in the CBD just before 4.45pm, and by 5.10pm he had still not reached the Auckland Harbor Bridge.

An NZTA spokesperson said nothing in particular was causing the traffic jam around the harbor bridge at around 5.30pm, other than the fact that there were still only three lanes open in each direction.