Police were called to a serious crash on the bridge between Panmure and Pakuranga on Tuesday afternoon, the second crash on that stretch of road in five days.
The two-vehicle crash on the Lagoon Drive bridge was reported to Police at about 4.44pm on 4 August, and one person was reported to have critical injuries.
Police said the bridge’s lanes would be closed and traffic diverted on both sides.
Police asked motorists to expect delays and to avoid the area if possible.
Five days earlier a person died on the same road.
Emergency services were called to Lagoon Drive at about 7.20am on Friday 31 July after a report of a vehicle crashing into a pole.
The sole occupant of the vehicle died at the scene.
Police closed the road, kept one westbound lane open and diverted all eastbound traffic, reopening it at 12.40pm.
The Serious Crash Unit has completed a scene examination of the fatal crash and enquiries into its circumstances are continuing.
Police have issued no update on the condition of the person injured on Tuesday, and have not named the person who died on 31 July.
One reader praised the members of the public who stopped to help at Tuesday’s crash before emergency services arrived.
“The public who attended this incident until the fire service, ambulance and police turned up were amazing, everyone outdid themselves,” they wrote.
Others posting in east Auckland community Facebook groups described journeys of two hours or more.
“Left Howick at 4.45 got home in Mt Wellington 6.45,” one wrote.
“Traffic everywhere round the area backed up for hours.”
Another said a 10km ride home had taken an hour and 32 minutes.
Both questioned why traffic was not sent down the bus lane on the bridge instead of being diverted away from it.
“Not sure why the bus lane at bridge was not operational to tax payers as alternative route instead of diverting traffic,” one wrote.
Maungakiekie-Tamaki ward councillor Josephine Bartley has asked for an independent safety assessment of the road.
“I have requested an independent safety assessment and redesign of this stretch of road,” she wrote in a public Facebook post on 4 August.
Bartley said she had emailed her concerns to Auckland Transport, the Eastern Busway project team, the Mayor and the Minister of Transport.
“I have been raising my concerns about the road layout and design and the dynamic lanes and bridge for a few years now,” she wrote.
“Unfortunately there have now been two accidents on that same stretch of road within days of each other.”
The bridge sits at the Panmure end of the Eastern Busway, which Auckland Transport has been building in stages since 2018.
The Panmure to Pakuranga section was completed between 2018 and 2021 and buses already run between Pakuranga and Panmure station.
Construction of the remaining section from Pakuranga to Botany is due to finish in 2027.
