Subscribe to RSSAnother SH16 Flood Warning
Maybe this time we need to take the warning a little more seriously in view of the natural disasters happening!
NZTA has issued one of those strange warnings about the SH16 motorway could - but probably won’t- get flooded.
The latest problem time happens from this Wednesday and there will be further warnings in October and November.
Unusually high tides in the Waitemata Harbour of up to 3.5m will be about 0.4 metres higher than normal.
They occur from Wednesday to the following Monday and the area on the Northwestern Motorway most likely to be affected is the causeway across the Waitemata harbour between the Patiki Road Interchange and the Rosebank Road bridges.
The cycleway beside the highway will be flooded, and the NZTA is advising cyclists to try to avoid using it 90 minutes either side of the high tide mark.
NZTA says it’s unlikely the motorway itself will be affected, unless weather conditions like strong winds have an impact on the tides.
The NZTA is planning to raise the causeway by 1.5 metres and increase the width of the motorway to provide extra lanes as part of the Western Ring Route development.
3 Comments
Filling the motorway 1.5m is not only going to be expensive it’s going to be disruptive to users. I would have thought simple stopbanks would be a viable solution not only keeping the higher tides out but containing any major spills on the motorway from entering the adjacent marine reserve.
Funnily enough, it never floods on these given dates, but about two weeks ago it did, without the extra high tide or any warning being issued. Was due to high winds and large waves.
Never floods on given dates? I disagree, having been caught out last night cycling home through stretches of knee deep water. I regularly check weather warnings but must have missed this one.