Strong winds could see more lane closures on Auckland Harbour Bridge

Tuesday, 29 September 2020

By 9am traffic near the Newton Rd overbridge in Auckland was flowing well, following a morning of disruption.

Continued wind gusts could see lanes closed on the Auckland Harbour Bridge again on Tuesday afternoon.

Gusts of up to 98kmh forced the bridge to be closed completely on Tuesday morning.

Three lanes in each direction re-opened around 8am.

At 1pm, NZTA Waka Kotahi senior journey manager Neil Walker urged motorists to plan ahead and allow plenty of time for their commute between the city centre and North Shore.

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“MetService forecasts more strong, cold south-westerly winds picking up in strength for a time this afternoon so further lane closures may be required. More settled weather is expected for the rest of the week.”

The closure on Tuesday morning caused major delays to traffic across Auckland’s motorway networks until about 10.15am.

Traffic on SH18 heading towards Auckland's CBD had ground to a halt amid ongoing mayhem caused by the Harbour Bridge closure.

Traffic on the Western Ring Route had ground to a halt due to the Harbour Bridge closure and a later crash involving a motorcycle.

The alternative route from the North Shore into the city was backed up for kilometres just before 9am, almost from Hobsonville back to Rosedale.

A crash involving a motorcycle on the northwestern motorway near Royal Rd added to the traffic headaches.

Walker said the agency understood the disruption closing the bridge created and it wasn’t a decision taken lightly.

He said safety was the top priority and no chances will be taken with the bridge given its current damage.

Timelapse video shows temporary repairs on Auckland Harbour Bridge.

“Ongoing wind gusts have been a concern since the weekend and Waka Kotahi’s bridge team has been continually measuring wind levels.

“It is vital we protect this critical piece of infrastructure for the medium and long term. If another incident were to occur because of high winds the bridge could be damaged even more which would cause longer term disruption.”

The earlier lane closures came after MetService earlier warned a cold front at dawn could bring heavy rain and gusts between 70 and 90kmh to Auckland.

MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said winds in Auckland were “pretty blustery” and not expected to ease until late afternoon/early evening on Tuesday.

Traffic heading towards the city on the Northern motorway could be seen at a crawl near Tristram Ave.

He said wind speeds on the Harbour Bridge had been about 57kmh but had reached gusts of 95kmh just before 7am.

Corrigan added the strong wind trend would remain into the evening, although no severe weather watches or warnings were expected.

NZTA said the bridge had been closed to look after the safety of drivers and the bridge itself while it was damaged and in a compromised state.

Takapuna’s Dianne Weissenborn was travelling to work in Penrose when the bridge suddenly closed.

Blocked by an Auckland Motorways truck at the base of the bridge, she turned her engine off and listened to the radio for about an hour.

The Harbour Bridge was closed due to strong wind gusts about 7am (file photo).

She told Stuff despite the NZTA’s warnings since the weekend the bridge could close, she “didn’t really expect it”.

“I’ve driven the bridge when there’s been wind gusts in the past, and they’ve never closed it before.

“Are they panicking or is the bridge unsafe, very unsafe?”

The bridge’s sudden closure saw traffic build across the motorway network, particularly on the northern motorway and the Western Ring Route (WRR).

Shortly before 8am it was taking motorists travelling to the city from Silverdale almost two hours on the WRR. On a normal day it would take half an hour.

The damage to the Harbour Bridge was caused by a gust of wind blowing over a truck into one of the bridges steel struts.

With congestion heavy, the NZTA urged people to work from home where possible and avoid unnecessary travel.

It advised motorists to use the Western Ring Route via SH16 and SH18 as an alternative to SH1 and the bridge.

Some motorists who were heading to work were stranded near the bridge due to its sudden closure.

Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan reminded commuters ferries and trains were operating as usual but there was not much that could be done to immediately alleviate the situation.

A number of bus services would be delayed and cancelled however, due to the bridge closure.

”Major delays and cancellations across the bus network are expected.

”It’s going to be a long, slow journey for everyone today,” Hannan said.

On Monday, the NZTA said lanes on the bridge could close on short notice because of the wind.

That morning, it said it would not hesitate to close some lanes or the whole bridge for “short periods of time” for safety reasons if wind gusts exceeded 80kmh.