Travel delays hit South Canterbury roads
Motorists travelling through South Canterbury faced delays on Easter Monday through a combination of crashes, holidaymakers and major events.
Traffic was, at times, bumper to bumper between Twizel and Tekapo following a crash near the Mt Cook turnoff in which one person suffered serious injuries.
It was the second crash on the same road in less than 24 hours after two people were hospitalised following a collision between Tekapo Canal and Hayman roads, just before 6.30pm on Sunday.
A police communications spokeswoman said traffic in the area was heavy.
Meanwhile, those headed north from Dunedin, where Ed Sheeran played three concerts, faced gridlock heading into and through Oamaru and Timaru.
NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) journey manager Tresca Forrester said traffic was more intense than usual on Easter Monday. She said the roads were as busy as anticipated.
‘‘We always knew Easter Monday would have heavy traffic and that it would be a heavy weekend.
‘‘We always anticipated it but I think Monday would have been the worst day.’’
People heading home from the Warbirds over Wanaka international airshow and Sheeran’s concerts added to traffic issues.
State Highway 1 was particularly slow through Timaru, while roads around Twizel and Geraldine were also reportedly slowgoing.
Stuff photographer John Bisset, travelling SH72 from Mayfield to Geraldine at about 4pm on Monday, said extremely busy.
‘‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’’ he said.
Bisset said someone was directing traffic on the SH79 bridge across the Orari River, ahead of Geraldine.
He’d stopped in Geraldine, and said the traffic through the town’s main street was ‘‘nose-to-tail’’. traffic was