The NZ Transport Agency is urging motorists heading away for Easter to plan ahead to stay safe and avoid delays on the roads.
The Transport Agency’s travel team has put together maps to show the expected peak holiday traffic times to help drivers decide the best time to travel to avoid the queues. These maps show the busiest times based on previous years’ travel patterns. They are predictions and are subject to change based on the weather, local events and other factors.
More details can be found at www.nzta.govt.nz/hotspots(external link)
“We know we’ll see large numbers of people heading off to their usual holiday destinations and that makes queues and delays inevitable at the most popular times,” Senior Journey Manager Neil Walker says.
“Heading out of Wellington for example, the traffic will start to build on State Highway 1 from midday on Thursday and continue right through to the evening. Peak hour Friday and Saturday are also traditionally busy for this region.”
“But traffic is heaviest on Sunday and Monday, as road users return to the region’s urban centres.”
State Highway 1,2 & 5 all feature hotspots in the Lower North Island and Mr Walker says road-users should use the available information to avoid peak times and lengthy delays.
“If everyone plans their travel in advance, and thinks about how they can travel outside the busiest periods it will help reduce congestion, delays and stress and that will make it a safer and more enjoyable journey for everyone,” Mr Walker says.
“The hot spot predictions have proved really popular in helping people make informed decisions about when to travel, but predicted peak times can change on the day because of incidents, changing weather and even driver behaviour. So keep up to date with real time travel information.”
Get real time information about the best times to travel and the less congested routes from:
For Central North Island
For Wellington
Check the latest weather and warnings here:
