Traffic backs up at border checkpoints as Auckland begins snap lockdown (Photo / NZ Herald) Mon, 15 Feb 2021, 10:06AM Traffic is banking up at a highway checkpoint at Auckland's southern border as police assess every vehicle travelling in and out of the region. Motorists are being warned to expect long delays as police man highway checkpoints around Auckland's perimeter to enforce ramped up travel restrictions. The change in alert levels from 1 to 3 overnight has seen the re-emergence of tough criteria for movements by road in and out of the region. Big queues are now forming around Mercer heading south with traffic gridlocked along the Waikato Expressway almost back to Pokeno.