The NZ Transport Agency advises Auckland motorists of an unscheduled motorway closure tonight to remove an overheight vehicle currently stopped on the southbound side of State Highway 1, just before the Penrose Road bridge.
The truck set off alarms designed to warn the driver and allow time to pull over before hitting the bridge.
The temporary motorway closure will allow the truck to turn around, leave the motorway and continue its journey on local roads, says the Transport Agency’s Acting Auckland System Manager Paul Geck.
The southbound Ellerslie-Panmure on ramp will be closed at 2am and a rolling block of traffic management trucks across motorway lanes will hold back vehicles until the truck is off the motorway. It’s estimated that traffic management will be in place for about an hour.
Motorists are advised to delay their journey southbound on SH1 at this time or allow extra time.
There has been a record low number of reported bridge strikes recently, with only two reported in the 2017/18 financial year, compared with 11 in 2016/17 and 16 in 2015/16.
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