Plan ahead to stay safe and avoid delays this Labour weekend

The NZ Transport Agency is encouraging motorists heading away for Labour Weekend to plan ahead to stay safe and avoid delays.

One of the easiest and most accurate sources of information on expected travel patterns is the Transport Agency’s Hotspots maps.  Based on previous Labour weekends, the data shows the areas and times that are mostly likely to be congested. They can be found at www.nzta.govt.nz/hotspots(external link).

“If you can travel outside of these busiest times it will help reduce your chances of being stuck in a queue and help keep traffic moving. If you do have to travel then, please allow plenty of time to get to your destination,” says Harry Wilson, the Transport Agency’s Safety Director.

“When you combine the higher number of cars on the road, tiredness and driving on unfamiliar roads it can create stressful driving situations which can in turn lead to mistakes.”

“Reducing your speed and increasing your following distances helps to reduce the potentially serious consequences of those mistakes.”

“There’s a lot of construction and maintenance happening on state highways across Auckland and Northland and we ask motorists to slow down through these work areas. Even when there’s not obvious work taking place there are hazards that mean you should keep within the reduced speed limit to keep yourselves, your families and other road users safe. It also reduces damage to what can be newly surfaced or repaired roads.”

Top tips for safe Labour Weekend travel

• Take time to make sure your vehicle is safe before hitting the road
• Do not drink and drive
• Wear your seat belt, and make sure all your passengers are too
• Allow plenty of time, avoid the need to rush, share the driving and enjoy the journey
• Plan your route and your time of travel to avoid congestion
• Take extreme care when overtaking and pull over to allow vehicles to pass if you have vehicles queuing behind you. 

Hotspots across Auckland and Northland

One of the biggest pinch points is on State Highway 1 between Pūhoi and Kawakawa, and at Warkworth. Traffic will start building on Friday afternoon and continue through until Saturday morning as people head away. It will build again on Monday from mid-morning as everyone heads home.

It’s also particularly busy heading south out of Auckland on SH1 from midday on Friday until around 8pm and then again on Saturday from about 9am. Heading north to Auckland on Monday, traffic gets busy from lunchtime through until around 7pm.

The State Highway 1 and State Highway 2 Interchange from Coromandel can also get congested.

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