Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will carry out urgent repair work on State Highway 1 (SH1) near Papakura (Beach Road) Interchange after a truck fire incident on the motorway early this morning.

A full northbound closure with traffic management will be in place from Papakura to Takanini from 7pm tonight (Wednesday 8 March) until 5am tomorrow (Thursday 9 March).

A sign posted detour route will be via Beach Road and Great South Road.

Our teams will work during this time to safely remove the vehicle, clean up the site and repair the road surface.

While we appreciate this is an early closure and will affect motorists travelling home this evening, the extent of damage means we need to start as early as possible to avoid disrupting peak hour traffic tomorrow morning.

Waka Kotahi strongly encourages motorists to avoid travel in this area if they can. If you need to travel, please follow the detour routes and allow plenty of extra travel time.

We thank you in advance for your support and patience while we work quickly to get this important section of state highway back to its original condition.

For live updates please visit www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/auckland.

Plan ahead for a safe, enjoyable journey. Keep up to date with:

· Traffic updates: journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic

• Facebook: facebook.com/nztaakl
• Twitter: twitter.com/WakaKotahiAkNth
• Journey planner: journeys.nzta.govt.nz
• Phone: 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49)

We have a vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads. Learn more about:

· Road to Zero - our plan to achieve this vision

· Our vision – video explaining Road to Zero and what we’re trying to achieve

• What Waka Kotahi is doing to support Road to Zero

© Scoop Media