Fatal crash results in long delays
Thousands of Auckland commuters were delayed up to three hours yesterday after a fatal early morning crash on the Northwestern Motorway.
The crash between a motorcycle and a rubbish truck happened shortly after 6.30am and closed a section of the motorway between the Western Springs off/on-ramps. it reopened at 10.45am.
One driver contacted the Herald to say he had been stuck in traffic for almost two hours. Another reported being more than two hours late for work.
“We left home in Queenstown Rd, Onehunga, at 6.45am and came through the tunnel. It’s now 8.50am and we are crawling on the motorway about
100m away from the Western Springs offramp citybound.
“This is so frustrating. We were meant to start work at 7am at University of Auckland.”
A driver from Massey was sitting idle in his car at the Great North Rd turnoff, a journey that usually took 15 minutes in heavy traffic but yesterday took about two hours. He said signs on the way warned of a crash and to expect delays.
Trapped motorists also reported needing the toilet and sleep as added stresses.
“I left Avondale at 6.32am and I’m just now approaching St Lukes offramp.
HFor video of the congestion see nzherald.co.nz Yup, that’s three hours! P.S. I’m busting to use the toilet!” one wrote.
Another reported having flown four hours from Cancun to Los Angeles and waiting 12 hours for the next flight before flying 12-and-a-half hours to Auckland, only to be stuck in traffic since 7am.
The closure affected traffic on SH16, SH18 and on SH20 via the Waterview Tunnel. Traffic was back to Maioro St on SH20 and logjammed between Royal Rd and Lincoln Rd on SH16. Local roads were also congested.
The Great North Rd on-ramp eastbound was closed, while traffic coming through the Waterview Tunnel had to wait over half an hour just to pass through it. Motorists were advised to take alternative routes or delay travel if possible.
Automobile Association principal adviser of infrastructure Barney Irvine said that at 7.40am, an hour after the crash, it took one hour and 45 minutes to get from Westgate into the CBD. Usually at that time it took 25-26 minutes.
Also at 7.40am, it took just under an hour to get from the airport into the CBD via the Waterview Tunnel, a trip that usually took 25 or 26 minutes.
Auckland Transport operations centre manager Rua Pani said police worked as quickly as possible on the crash investigation.