An infamous traffic jam of Aucklanders heading for holidays in the Coromandel Peninsula is no more with the opening of a new bridge at Kopu today.
Officials say there will be a last day of delays when the new Kopu Bridge is opened by Prime Minister John Key, before the public is allowed to walk across between 10.30am and 4.30pm today.
"Motorists travelling over the single-lane Kopu Bridge this Saturday can expect traffic delays - but they're likely to be the last at this traffic bottleneck," Bryce Carter, a New Zealand Transport Agency project services manager says.
The new two-lane bridge is expected to reduce the commute from Auckland to Thames by an hour and improve safety along State Highway 25 between State Highway 26 and Hauraki Road.
More than 9000 vehicles daily cross the existing one-lane bridge, which was built in 1927 and 1928, and flows more than double at peak holiday times.
The new bridge has been built immediately upstream of the old bridge.
The New Zealand Transport Authority says it is reviewing options for future maintenance and use of the old bridge together with the two local councils and the Historical Places Trust.
The old bridge is classified as a Category One historic site by the trust.
NZN