The NZ Transport Agency will be hitting the ‘pause‘ button for daytime roadworks on some of the country‘s busiest highways in an effort to ease congestion and delays for drivers when New Zealand moves into alert level 2.

With a significant increase in travel expected, NZTA general manager transport services Brett Gliddon says most planned daytime maintenance work, and potentially disruptive construction work on the state highway network in major centres, will be paused on Thursday and Friday this week and on Monday 18 May in order to ease congestion for those who need to drive.

“We know that travel is likely to spike when we move to level 2 as more people resume their daily trips, and there will be some unavoidable congestion and delays. We‘re hitting ‘pause‘ on roadworks on our busiest highways for the first few days of level 2 to avoid making those delays worse.

“Please plan your journeys in advance and allow plenty of time. If you can, stagger your journey to avoid travelling during peak times. Walking or cycling is a great option for some trips.”

Gliddon says the NZTA will closely monitor traffic flows around the country, and the pause on daytime work may be extended if needed. 

Traffic volumes on state highways in New Zealand cities during alert level 3 have been 30% to 60% lower than usual, and a significant increase in travel is expected with the move in to level 2.