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Two vulnerable elderly people were left waiting for meals and medicine when their carer was caught up in Sunday’s four-and-a-half-hour Auckland motorway closure that delayed thousands of motorists. 

A northbound section of the Northern Motorway was in gridlock while a police operation unfolded after an allegedly stolen car caused a multi-vehicle crash on State Highway 1 near Silverdale. Nobody was seriously injured. 

A caregiver was travelling to attend to two vulnerable clients in Warkworth and Snell’s Beach at around 5pm when she encountered banked-up traffic. 

The Healthvision employee, who did not want to be named, said she was alarmed at the sight and called it “exceedingly stressful”. 

“It took me what should have been the whole travel time to even get on the motorway. 

New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said the motorway reopened at about 7.15pm. Photo / Hayden Woodward 

“I was actually panicking, thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’ And I couldn’t actually work out a route that was going to work all right.” 

The support worker told a Healthvision co-ordinator to pass news of the delay to her elderly clients, but only one, who was in “quite a lot of pain”, was informed. 

The other patient expected varying evening hours but was close to being “really worried”, she said. 

She found an alternate route but said it still took up to an hour longer than usual to attend to her clients, which involved an apology before making their dinner and giving them their correct medications. 

“Those particular clients need support but they’re not high-needs. 

“If they had been high-needs clients, or palliative care clients, and I was that late … the effects would be considerably worse.” 

Delay ‘not really acceptable’ 

She said the delay was “not really acceptable” on a major route but acknowledged police “only had one shot” at what they had to do. 

Police told the Herald there is no set timeframe for road closures following a serious crash. 

“In this instance, the Northern Motorway was closed so police staff could investigate the incident, for the Serious Crash Unit to conduct a scene examination, and for the debris to be cleared and cleaned up effectively so motorists could use the motorway safely,” a police spokesperson said. 

“We acknowledge road closures can be frustrating for motorists and can cause further delays, however, it’s vital we prioritise safety and the integrity of our investigation.”