Source: Radio New Zealand
State Highway 16 full of slow moving morning traffic as the sun rises. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Anyone catching a flight to Auckland Airport on Friday should allow extra travelling time as bargain hunters heading to shopping hot spots clog up the city’s motorway network.
It will take 45 minutes to drive from the central city to the Manawa Bay shopping Outlet Centre near the airport. The trip would usually take less than half an hour on a good traffic day.
Auckland Airport said there were some temporary road closures in place on Boxing Day. Nixon Road was closed and access along Jimmy Ward Crescent from the south was closed. Tom Pearce Drive remains open.
Traffic was also building on State Highway 1, near the Mt Wellington Highway off-ramps, as shoppers head to the country’s biggest mall, Sylvia Park and the newly opened Ikea furniture store.
It was also busy on both State Highway 20A and State Highway 20B around Auckland Airport.
New Zealand Transport Agency advised people to plan ahead, and allow extra time for traffic.
Sylvia Park centre manager Shahyad Asdollah-zadeh expected it to be a huge day.
“If the last fortnight’s been any indication, we’ve had some really good numbers through the mall… The morning just so far to date has been good. So look, expecting a big day, which will be great for our retailers and customers.”
Asdollah-zadeh expected foot traffic through the mall to be higher than last year.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
