Queens Birthday Weekend Traffic Warnings

Transit New Zealand and Police are urging motorists to travel with care during this Queen’s Birthday Weekend.

Traffic heading north out of Wellington is expected to be heavy on Friday evening and again heading south on Monday afternoon.

To help improve traffic flow, Transit is closing northbound passing lanes on State Highway 1 at Lindale and Waikanae from Friday June 4 at approx 1.00pm until approx 11.00am on Saturday June 5.

Transit’s Wellington Highway Superintendent Reuben Pokiha says the closures will allow about 100-150 additional vehicles to pass through the area each hour at these busy times. Transit will be closely monitoring the lane closures, to ensure they remain effective.

“Detailed investigations and past experience show that when there’s a high volume of traffic and people need to merge at the end of a passing lane, they tend to push for position which slows down the flow of traffic.

“Closing the passing lanes helps increase capacity. It produces a steadier flow of single lane traffic along the highway, which is critical at long weekends,” said Mr Pokiha.

Police inspector John Spence says everyone wants to enjoy their journeys and get to their destinations safely, so he advises motorists to be patient and take extra care.

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