Plan ahead to steer clear of stress on the highways this Christmas

Thursday, 24 December 2020

Holidaymakers heading north and south out of Auckland can expect big delays in the days after Christmas.

The Automobile Association is urging travellers to plan ahead to prevent getting caught in the post-Christmas rush on New Zealand’s highways.

With overseas holidays off the cards, state highways up and down the country are expected to be chock-a-block with cars over the next few weeks – with the busiest day expected to be December 27.

Waka Kotahi NZTA is also predicting record numbers of Kiwis will be out and about on New Zealand roads, causing congestion and delays on state highways to and from traditional holiday spots.

According to figures from the Automobile Association, while traffic was expected to be heavy right around the country, the major hotspots for congestion were expected to be coming in and out of Auckland and Wellington.

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On 27 December 2019, the drive from Wellington to Paekakariki was taking up to 76 minutes for some travellers.

In the top of the south, the AA predicts the busiest day for traffic heading west from Blenheim to Nelson will be December 29. The traditional holiday exodus from Christchurch to Nelson will see heavy traffic on the Lewis Pass and further north on Boxing Day and December 27, and during the return journey on January 2.

AA spokesman Dylan Thomsen said for Aucklanders the traffic hotspots would be the highway north around Warkworth and the road heading down to Coromandel, and for Wellingtonians it was SH1 up the Kapiti Coast.

Thomsen said based on the figures they saw in 2019, December 27 was shaping up to be the worst day to travel.

In some of these spots last year, trips were taking up to three times as long as they normally would.

Under normal traffic conditions the trip from Wellington to Paekakariki takes about 28 minutes, but last year on December 27 it was taking up to 76 minutes.

Similarly on the drive between Puhoi and Warkworth, north of Auckland, the delays were extending the usual time from 13 minutes to 34 minutes.

The situation was almost as bad for traffic returning to town between January 1-3.

On January 2 this year, the trip from SH25 to Auckland’s Southern Motorway had doubled from about 23 minutes to about an hour.

At the same time further north from Wellsford to Warkworth, the 16-minute drive was taking up to 54 minutes.

Thomsen said the best advice they could give travellers was to plan their trip in advance, and if possible avoiding the worst hotspots between 10am and 4pm.

“Not everyone has the flexibility, but if you can leave a bit earlier or a bit later to avoid the worst of the delays, you can save yourself a whole lot of stress.”

He said another thing for travellers to bear in mind was the effect of cumulative delays on different highways throughout their journey.

“A 20 or 30 minute delay might not seem a huge amount to some people, but when it catches you by surprise, and it’s taking away from really precious times with loved ones, it can be devastating.”

Waka Kotahi Senior Journey Manager Neil Walker said in anticipation of the holiday rush, NZTA had set up traffic prediction tools and real-time updates for prospective travellers.

“We’re encouraging people to use our holiday journeys tool to help plan their trips, but it’s hard to predict exactly what travel patterns will look like this summer with international tourists out of the mix and more Kiwis on the road.”