Labour Weekend Tips: Travel Outside The Peaks If You Can

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For people packing up the car this Labour Weekend and
heading away, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has a handy
way to make your travel safer and more enjoyable.

Use
the Waka Kotahi holiday journey planner to check congestion
predictions so you are better informed and maybe can pick a
non-peak patch: journeys.nzta.govt.nz/labour-weekend

“The
holiday journey planner shows predicted traffic conditions
for popular routes over the Labour Weekend period, based on
travel patterns from previous years,” says Waka Kotahi
Journey Manager Tresca Forrester.

  • Visit journeys.nzta.govt.nz
    for the latest information on road works, road closures and
    delays.
  • Predicted peak times for travel may change
    based on traffic incidents, weather, driver
    behaviour.
  • Travel prepared and refreshed – see
    tips below.

As well as the peak busy patches on
key highways in Queenstown Lakes District and Canterbury,
there are also a few places where the state highway or local
roads may have traffic management in place, causing short
delays, says Ms Forrester.

“We expect heavy traffic
out of our urban centres this Friday and back home on
Monday, particularly given the generally sunny weather in
most places Saturday and Sunday,” she says. “Please take
extra care on the roads and check the
weather forecasts before you leave and the Waka Kotahi
traffic and travel page for any updates.

“We
have done the best to minimise works in most places over the
long weekend, but we ask all drivers to take extra care
wherever you spot road cones and areas with traffic
management where work is ongoing.”

Waka Kotahi crews
will shut down most active work sites around by midday on
Friday, 21
October.

Tips:

  • Drive
    to the conditions, whether it’s the weather, the time of
    day or amount of traffic.
  • Take regular breaks to
    stay alert. Share the driving if you can.
  • Keep a
    safe following distance from vehicles in front so you can
    stop safely.
  • Be patient – overtaking is unlikely to
    make a significant difference to your journey time due to
    the amount of traffic expected over the
    weekend.
  • Check your car is safe, warranted,
    windwipers/lights are working and you have a spare tyre
    inflated before you head off.
  • Wellington and Top of
    the South Labour Weekend advice here:
    https://www.nzta.govt.nz/media-releases/wellington-and-top-of-the-south-drivers-stay-safe-this-holiday-weekend/

Drivers
can get real time information from:

Plan
ahead for a safe, enjoyable journey. Keep up to date
with:

· Traffic updates: journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic

We have a
vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand
roads. Learn more about:

· Road to Zero – our plan
to achieve this vision

· Our
vision – video explaining Road to Zero and what we’re
trying to achieve

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