Live: Two more lanes of Auckland Harbor Bridge may be opened after successful repair work as traffic increases

The overnight repair work to temporarily repair the damaged strut on the Auckland Harbor Bridge was a success, says NZTA.

Work is now underway to open two additional lanes to traffic early this morning, but the NZTA did not guarantee time.

A third southbound lane on the bridge will open “shortly,” transportation authorities said at 6.15am.

The lower half of the bridge strut has been replaced with a newly fabricated steel section.

Despite that, drivers arriving in town are still being asked to consider using the western ring route and to check travel times before leaving home.

Traffic piles up

Traffic heading towards the Auckland Harbor Bridge is accumulating rapidly for a third day early this morning.

Motorists traveling into the city from Silverdale, via State Highway 1 and the bridge, can expect a 50-minute ride, according to the Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency.

Usually that is a journey of less than 20 minutes.

At 6 a.m., the drive from Albany to Manukau, across the bridge, took about an hour and 10 minutes. Usually that was a trip that took less than half an hour.

People heading downtown from Helensville, via SH18 and SH1, face a travel time of about an hour and 10 minutes, more than double the usual travel time.

Travelers on SH16 report that the highway is “totally congested” and appears to be a parking lot just before 6.30am. M.
6:26
TRAFFIC10 – “Stop the flow to SH16. It is a parking lot without movement and we cannot move forward due to poorly adjusted traffic lights,” wrote one Twitter user.

Highway cameras show long lines at SH1 Esmonde Road and SH1 Northcote Road heading to the bridge shortly after 6 a.m.

Congestion is backed up to Tristram Avenue on Northern Motorway.

Newstalk reporter ZB Natasha Jojoa Burling has been at the north end of the bridge since before it reopened at 5 a.m.

“At 4.45am I could see a queue of cars at Onewa Road and Sylvan Ave, and some parked cars waiting. I’ve seen some people go U-turns because they have stopped entering the freeway.

“At 5.30 am Onewa Road was absolutely packed, with traffic snaking up the hill.”

Sea change: commuters take ferries to escape nightmarish traffic

No end in sight yet for motorists battling excruciating traffic jams on the Auckland Harbor Bridge, except perhaps to leave car keys at home and take public transport.

And many are doing just that, with nearly twice as many North Shore passengers taking ferries through the port on Monday compared to the week before, while 10-15% more passengers boarded buses yesterday. in the morning.

It comes as motorists again faced massive highway delays after a strange gust of wind struck a truck against a support strut on the bridge on Friday, damaging it and forcing engineers to close four lanes of the highway.

So many motorists took the detour from the Northwestern Motorway route through West Auckland that the resulting traffic jams led the Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency to reverse its recommendation to use the alternative route.

He said drivers could also stay on the Northern Freeway and endure the punishing delays that come with crossing the bridge.

However, some hope came overnight, when temporary repairs to the damaged bridge finally got underway as emergency crews closed all southbound lanes from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The repairs are expected to open up two additional lanes over the bridge to reduce traffic, but this is unlikely to alleviate congestion.

“Our advice remains to consider working from home if possible. For those who must travel, we encourage them to leave their cars at home and use public transportation,” said NZTA Senior Travel Manager Neil Walker.

However, despite the traffic chaos, many residents were modifying their travel routines.

Some 16,500 southbound vehicles crossed the bridge in 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday, or 60 percent less than at the same time last year, figures from Auckland Transport showed.

Northbound traffic was down 39 percent.

Southbound traffic on Upper Harbor Drive (SH18), which is part of the detour through West Auckland, increased 39%, and northbound traffic increased 9%.

More than 4,000 passengers also took ferries in and out of the city on Monday.

That was nearly double the more than 2,000 who used ferries a week earlier.

The biggest waves of passengers came from Devonport and Birkenhead. Nearly 1,500 passengers took the ferry to and from Devonport yesterday, 106 percent more than the previous week.

Birkenhead’s passenger numbers increased 284 percent compared to the previous week to about 500 people.

The Bayswater Ferry was up 121 percent to about 400.

About 6,000 people also crossed the bridge on public buses between 7 am and 9 am yesterday morning. That was 5-10 percent higher than last week, AT said.

NZTA also hoped that emergency work on the bridge overnight would allow for the temporary opening of two more lanes to traffic.

That would mean that six of the eight lanes of the bridge would be opened, rather than just four lanes as had been the case since Saturday’s accident.