Holiday traffic and crashes caused delays for people heading out of town for the long weekend and school holidays.
Crashes on State Highway 1 at Plimmerton and the southbound lane of the Terrace Tunnel caused delays, but traffic is now flowing smoothly.
People heading north out of Wellington were warned of heavy congestion on SH1 between Peka Peka and Ōtaki, but it has now eased.
FINAL UPDATE 6.57PM
— NZTA Akld & Nthlnd (@NZTAAkl) April 18, 2019
The incident has been cleared, expect delays as congestion eases. ^MF https://t.co/Dd6H5fiQzr
Wellington City Council said a signal fault has knocked out a lot of street lights around the city, but they should be back on shortly.
The Transport Agency has pulled together a list of where they expect traffic to be bad into as the holiday period begins.
In Auckland, traffic heading north slowed to a crawl in places, especially around Puhoi, Warkworth and Wellsford. It is also slow heading south.
The Transport Agency said a car fire blocked the right westbound lane of the northwestern motorway just after the Pataki Road off-ramp, but has now been cleared.
Crashes just after the Portage Road overbridge and near the Mt Wellington Highway on-ramp have caused delays for north-bound traffic on the southern motorway.
Motorist are being warned of heavy congestion, particularly between Cavendish Drive to Massey Road, with the Transport Agency suggesting those travelling to the airport consider using State Highway 20B.
NZTA acting director of safety and environment Niclas Johansson said that with Easter Monday, Anzac Day and school holidays all falling at the same time this year, it's likely to be extra busy on the roads.
PLAN YOUR HOLIDAY JOURNEY: As predicted traffic is heavy northbound & southbound out of Auckland. Further north, expect heavy congestion in Puhoi and again through Warkworth and Wellsford. More predictions here: https://t.co/tMhQ28qKDP. ^MF pic.twitter.com/ll08rP3Nmn
— NZTA Akld & Nthlnd (@NZTAAkl) April 18, 2019
Police have said there will be more officers on the roads this weekend, with a 4km/h tolerance for all static and mobile speed cameras nationwide.
Last Easter, seven people died, 45 were seriously injured and 155 people suffered minor injuries on the roads.
The weather for the long weekend looks set to start off well for most, but it will be downhill from there, according to forecasts.
