Auckland motorway closure will cause delays

Aucklanders staying home this long weekend are being warned to keep away from the central motorway network or face major delays.

A section of the southern motorway, State Highway 1, will be closed to finish work before the new northbound Newmarket Viaduct opens.

NZTA says the motorway's northbound lanes will be closed between the Market Rd off-ramp and the Gillies Ave on-ramps from 5pm today for final preparations to allow drivers to start using the northbound viaduct from Anniversary Monday morning, January 30.

NZTA is asking drivers to avoid the motorway during the work.

"We're talking about trying to re-direct up to 65,000 vehicles on the Sunday alone," says NZTA's acting state highways manager for Auckland and Northland, Steve Mutton.

"Even with detours, the impact of the closure will be felt well beyond the Southern Motorway. If people absolutely must travel, we're urging that they allow a lot more time for their journey.

"We accept that this may cause frustration - particularly on a long weekend - but our best advice is to stay away from the motorway during Auckland Anniversary Weekend."

The viaduct is one of the country's busiest roads, carrying on average more than 160,000 vehicles a day.

The closure will allow the motorway's northbound lanes to be moved to the new viaduct. At the same time, the blue lifting gantry used for the viaduct's construction has to be moved on to the existing northbound viaduct to help with its demolition.

The southbound lanes on the Southern Motorway are not affected by the Auckland Anniversary Weekend closure. And if weather is bad, the work could be delayed until Waitangi Weekend.

Mutton says construction of the new viaduct is ahead of schedule. The new southern viaduct at Newmarket opened in September 2010.

Like the old viaduct built in 1965, its replacement is almost 700m long but it has wider lanes, is seismically stronger, and will produce less traffic noise.

Detours will be in place during Anniversary weekend and detour routes to key destinations are available online, at Auckland Transpot's website and on Facebook.

- © Fairfax NZ News