26 March 2018 | AUCKLAND & NORTHLAND

Drivers urged to plan ahead at Easter to avoid peak travel times

The NZ Transport Agency is urging Auckland motorists heading away for Easter to plan ahead to stay safe and avoid delays on the roads.

The Transport Agency’s travel team has put together maps to show the expected peak holiday traffic times to help drivers decide the best time to travel to avoid the queues. These maps show the busiest times based on previous years’ travel patterns. They are predictions and are subject to change based on the weather, local events and other factors. More details can be found at www.nzta.govt.nz/hotspots.

“We know we’ll see large numbers of people heading off to their usual holiday destinations and that makes queues and delays inevitable at the most popular times,” says the Transport Agency’s Senior Journey Manager Neil Walker.

Heading out of Auckland, the traffic will start to build on State Highway 1 in both directions from Midday on Thursday right through to about 8pm.

On Friday, traffic is likely to remain heavy from 7:30am for much of the day especially between Puhoi and Wellsford, on the Southern Motorway from Takanini and on State Highway 2 to Coromandel.

Coming back on Monday, the busiest times are from Midday to 7pm.

“If everyone plans their travel in advance, and thinks about how they can travel outside the busiest periods it will help reduce congestion, delays and stress and that will make it a safer and more enjoyable journey for everyone.”

“The hot spot predictions have proved really popular in helping people make informed decisions about when to travel, but predicted peak times can change on the day because of incidents, changing weather and even driver behaviour. So keep up to date with real time travel information,” says Mr Walker.

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