A small hole discovered on Main Rd Stoke has shut one lane of the road causing significant traffic congestion around Stoke and Richmond.
Motorists are reporting being stuck in "bumper to bumper" traffic for hours.
Nelson City Council group manager infrastructure Alec Louverdis says contractors are currently excavating the hole that opened up this morning at 10 am on the road next to the culvert works on Main Rd Stoke near Saxton Field in preparation for remedial work.
"The old culvert has collapsed into the stream, which will need to be attended to before the road can be fully reopened. The culvert is due to be replaced as part of Stage 4 of the Saxton Creek Upgrade project," says Alec.
He says council has arranged for the overnight closure of Main Rd Stoke from 7:00pm to 6:00am Wednesday 8 September to allow remedial works to be undertaken.
Commuter Diane Chandler says it took her over an hour to do a five minute round trip to collect groceries.
"When I drove out there were hundreds, maybe thousands of road cones, but not a single sign, or person directing traffic. It was chaos."
She says her husband Lyndon, a physiotherapist, has missed appointments with patients due to the gridlock.
"First day back after Level 3, he is fully booked up with clients desperate to see him."
Motorists have been venting their frustration about the delays on social media.
"Half an hour, moved about 200 metres," one person wrote.
"I have been sitting between Stoke and Bunnings for an hour on Main Rd, southbound. It's worse than Auckland," says another.
Sarah Lee says the traffic is insane and had to delay opening her Fish and Chip shop in Brightwater.
"Took 40 minutes to get from Polstead Rd to Sterling Way, should have stayed at home this morning!"
All Nelson buses may be delayed due to traffic congestion.
All northbound Route 1 and 2 buses (from Richmond into Nelson) will skip bus stops between Salisbury Rd and the Beatson Rd/Annesbrook Roundabout until further notice.
Alec says while repair work continues, Main Rd Stoke will be limited to one northbound lane for the remainder of the day until the full reopening of the road tomorrow morning.
The roads were reopened at 6am on Thursday morning.
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this emergency road repair," says Alec.
