A large amount of white paint is covering a section of Auckland's Southern Motorway. (Photo / Twitter)

Spilt paint backs up Auckland motorway

Author: NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2018, 11:13AM

Fresh, wet, white paint is covering lanes on Auckland's Southern Motorway and motorists face 10km-long traffic queues while the mess is cleaned.

The paint is splattered over several lanes for around 200m heading south near the Mt Wellington off-ramp.

Two right lanes are blocked as contractors move in to clean up the spill with massive traffic jams stretching back nearly 10km to Newmarket.

The New Zealand Transport Agency is warning drivers heading south on SH1 to consider taking SH16 and SH20 to avoid the area altogether.

It's unclear how long the problem will take to solve.

Meanwhile, drivers using SH29 over the Kaimai Range in the Bay of Plenty were urged to take extra care and slow down due to an oil spill on the road which had led to a spate of crashes.

The highway is down to one lane each way while contractors cleaned up the oil that had created a 300m slick.

The spill happened after a ute and car crashed just around 10.10am near the summit on the Matamata side of the range.

The slippery surface has led to three minor crashes on the highway.

SH1 STHN MWY, MT WELLINGTON, SOUTHBOUND - SPILLAGE - 10:00AM

A paint spill is covering multiple lanes on the Sthn Mwy southbound prior to the Mt Wellington off-ramp. Please take extra care through this area and if you've driven through the paint consider washing your car. ^LC pic.twitter.com/YW438LNAoe
— NZTA Akld & Nthlnd (@NZTAAkl) January 14, 2018