The weekend used to provide a relief from Auckland’s traffic woes, but not anymore for some residents.
Figures released by the New Zealand Automobile Association show in areas such as Devonport on the North Shore and St Lukes the traffic is as bad, if not worse at the weekend.
It takes around 17 minutes to drive along Lake Road from Devonport to Esmonde Road in the weekday peak of 3:30pm, the time schools close for the day.
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On a Saturday between 11:10 and 12:30pm it takes on average around 16 minutes. Just one minute less.
Driving along Lincoln Road towards the Northwestern Motorway at the peak rush hours times will take you around nine minutes on a weekday and 10 minutes on Saturday.
If you head towards the Southern Motorway on St Lukes Road in peak weekday traffic the journey will take 21 minutes and you will save a minute of you do it on Saturday lunchtime.
Sarah Geard, the AA’s senior infrastructure advisor told NZME a Saturday rush hour was becoming more common at the weekends.
"Sports and retail are sort of the Saturday activities," Ms Geard said.
"It's also important to remember that the population is growing. So underpinning that, we've got more people who are getting out and about on the roads."
In March the AA reported the newly opened Waterview Tunnel had provided some relief to Auckland’s gridlock woes, but it was temporary as around 40,000 more cars were hitting the roads in the city each year.
The average rush-hour commuter now loses almost 80 hours a year to congestion, according to the AA, and it seems it is no better at the weekend.
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