29 Mar 2018

Series of accidents ahead of Ed Sheeran's Dunedin concert

5:01 pm on 29 March 2018

Traffic taking Ed Sheeran fans south to Dunedin today has been held up by a series of accidents.

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Photo: 123rf.com

Both lanes of State Highway 1 just north of Timaru had to be closed earlier this afternoon after an accident in which a car rolled.

Two separate crashes happened just south of Christchurch this morning.

Emergency services say traffic is now back to normal.

Up to 7000 more cars than usual are on the main road south to Dunedin today carrying fans to the British singer's concert.

More heavy traffic is expected on the road again tomorrow with concert goers returning home and more heading south for Ed Sheeran's second show.

Ed Sheeran fans have been queuing outside Forsyth Barr Stadium since last night in preparation for tonight's concert as anticipation grows in Dunedin for the pop superstar's first concert.

About 37,000 are expected to pack into the stadium tonight.

One 19-year-old fan from Sydney, has already seen Sheeran 15 times on his current world tour, and she'll also be going to every New Zealand show.

A third of the fans flocking to tonight's Sheeran concert are from Christchurch, meaning a lot more cars are on the road than normal.

The extra 5000 to 7000 vehicles were on top of those normally on the road for the Easter holidays.

Highways around the lower South Island will also be busier than normal as thousands head to the annual Warbirds over Wanaka air show.

Steven Mann from the Christchurch Transport Operations Centre earlier said traffic was expected to peak at about 1pm and would continue to be busy right up until 7pm.

"if possible we would advise people to try to leave before 1pm and after 7pm but the best thing to tell people is to make the journey part of the holiday and just be patient."

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