Road users are asked to take extra care on busy South Island state highways leading into the long holiday weekend, which will be swelled by thousands travelling for an event billed as the largest motorcycle event in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Burt Munro Challenge from February 4-8 in Southland will be a hot destination for motorcyclists and enthusiasts, adding to traffic for other events and the usual holiday travel for Waitangi Day weekend around the South Island.

New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and its contractors will be monitoring and ready to respond to any incidents.

“Long holiday weekends always mean more traffic on the state highways and greater potential for crashes,” says NZTA journey manager for Otago and Southland, Nicole Felts.

“Having a much larger than usual number of motorcyclists travelling adds another dimension of risk, given they are amongst the most vulnerable road users.” 

Due to the limits of protection, motorcycle and moped riders have a higher risk of death or injury than drivers of other vehicles, however there are simple steps motorcyclists can take to help keep themselves safe.

MetService has heavy rain or strong wind watches for parts of the South Island through until tomorrow but says there is otherwise minimal risk of severe weather leading into the long weekend.

“Whether you are a motorcyclist or operating some other type of vehicle, people can stack the odds in their favour by ensuring the basics – keeping to the speed limit, avoiding drinking and driving, being well-rested, driving to the conditions, and showing patience and respect towards other road users,” Miss Felts says.

Pause for most roadworks for long weekend

NZTA acting system manager for the Central South Island, Scott McKenzie, says road users travelling on state highways should be aware there are various roadworks underway this week and next, that may mean delays.

Most work will pause over the long weekend itself and is weather dependent, but some traffic management may remain in place and less invasive work is likely to commence during or at the completion of the weekend.

“The delays can add up to a make a noticeable difference on a long journey, so we do encourage people to give themselves plenty of time to get to and from their destinations. This helps to avoid frustrations building,” Mr McKenzie says.

“We appreciate peoples’ patience and understanding as we make the most of the summer months to get important roading maintenance done to keep our state highways up to standard.”

Chinese New Year traffic increase

Beyond the Waitangi Day holiday weekend, South Island highways are also expected to have increased traffic volumes around the time of the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) from 17 February.

Airports and tourism operators are expecting a leap in Chinese visitors travelling for the two weeks of holidays and festivities.

“Again, we want road users to just be aware of the potential for busier roads, especially leading in and out of popular tourist destinations such as Queenstown, Milford Sound and Lake Tekapo,” Miss Felts says.   

“It may mean more visitors who are driving and not as familiar with New Zealand roads, so again we ask people to take care and show patience.’’        

Stay up to date on roadworks and potential delays at our Journey Planner site.