Contract Awarded for St Lukes Road Interchange to Great North Road Interchange of the North Western Motorway
I do not usually run NZTA media releases but this one I will as it shows we are nearly there with the completion of the long awaited Western Ring Route.
From NZTA:
Contract award for next stage of Western Ring Route
5 Feb 2014 04:35pm | NZ Transport Agency: Auckland and Northland
The contract to construct the next stage of Auckland’s Western Ring Route – upgrading the Northwestern Motorway (State Highway 16) between the St Lukes Road and Great North Road interchanges – has been awarded to the Australian-based infrastructure company, Leighton Contractors.
The $70m project is jointly funded by the NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Transport.
A two kilometre-long section of the motorway will be widened from three to four lanes in each direction. There will also be improvements to the motorway ramps and the St Lukes Road -Great North Road intersection, while the St Lukes Road overbridge spanning the motorway will be widened to benefit drivers, walkers and cyclists.
The Transport Agency’s Highways Manager, Tommy Parker, says this is the last of six projects to connect the Northwestern and Southwestern (SH20) motorways.
“The upgrade is part of our programme to get our network ready for the increased volume of traffic when the Waterview tunnels connecting the Northwestern and Southwestern (SH20) motorways are completed in early 2017,” Mr Parker says.
Work is due to start in mid-autumn and be completed by late 2016. The other projects to connect the two motorways are the upgrade of the Maioro Street interchanges (SH20) which is completed, and the upgrade of the Lincoln and Te Atatu interchanges, the Causeway Upgrade Project, and the Waterview Connection, which are all under construction.
“Leightons bring plenty of infrastructure experience to the St Lukes project. The company is part of the Causeway alliance, and has been involved in some of our biggest Auckland developments including the Northern Gateway Toll Road and the Newmarket Viaduct Replacement Project.” Mr Parker says.
The Western Ring Route is a Road of National Significance, and will provide a 47km-long alternative to SH1 between Albany and Manukau. It will improve safety and city and regional transport connections for people and freight.
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Source: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/about/media/releases/3170/news.html
It will be good to have the entire project finished as for one I would be using it as the main highway between my place on Papakura and my mum’s place in Te Atatu (thus skipping the CBD and Central Motorway junction).
I was thinking once the Western Ring Route is fully completed, should it be converted to State Highway One with State Highway 20 taking the Manukau to CBD section while State Highway 18 taking the CBD to Albany section. State Highway one was always designed to be the inter-city and inter-regional road link with the State Highways 20, 16 and 18 being the intra-regional highways. So with the Western Ring Route soon to be completed and serving as the primary inter-regional route for cars and road freight (as it will by-pass the Harbour Bridge and the CBD) I believe it should carry the State Highway One shield.
I also noted this from the release:
The Western Ring Route is a Road of National Significance, and will provide a 47km-long alternative to SH1 between Albany and Manukau. It will improve safety and city and regional transport connections for people and freight.
Manukau and Albany – the two touted Super Metropolitan Centres of Auckland serving as regional people, commerce, freight and industrial service (for Manukau) hubs for their areas and partnering areas (Manukau with the Northern Waikato and Albany for Northland). Both Super Metropolitan Centres sit on the two boundaries of the Western Ring Route.
Talking Southern Auckland 