Subscribe to RSSKey Opens Hobsonville motorway
The new $220m Hobsonville Motorway was officially opened today by Prime Minister, John Key.
The NZTA plans to open the Hobsonville motorway to traffic tomorrow after it has completed final work overnight to get the highway ready.
The new motorway has two sections:
- A 6km-long, four lane motorway on SH18 between Upper Harbour Bridge in Greenhithe and the Westgate shopping centre
- A 3km-long extension of SH16 from Westgate to a new roundabout at Brigham Creek Road
Here are some travelling tips:
- People traveling down from Kumeu and beyond wanting to go to Westgate should use Fred Taylor Drive to Don Buck Road (old SH16)
- There is no motorway off-ramp at Westgate for city-bound traffic using the new Northwestern Motorway extension. (the first available motorway exit is at Lincoln Road).
- Travelling from Kumeu to the North Shore, use Brigham Creek Road
New pedestrian and cycle paths have been built at Clarks Lane footbridge, Hobsonville Road Interchange (Westgate) and Squadron Drive.
The Squadron Drive cycle path links from the Upper Harbour Bridge right into the new Hobsonville Point housing development. 3,000 houses will be built progressively at the development over the next 10-15 years.
The NZTA’s Regional Director for Auckland and Northland, Stephen Town, said the Hobsonville Motorway will develop into one of the country’s most important routes when the Western Ring Route is completed.
“It will help open up access and provide the transport backbone for the developing areas of north-west Auckland, and at the same time improve safety by taking thousands of vehicles off the old state Highway along Hobsonville Road.”
Mr Town thanked the NZTA’s contractors – HEB Construction, designers Aurecon and consultants Opus – for completing the project six months early.
Today’s celebration also marks the completion of a successful collaboration between the NZTA, Auckland Council and local Waitakere artists on an arts initiative as part of the design programme for the motorway.
Another motorway opened
At the ribbon cutting celebration, the Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce, the Mayor of Auckland, Len Brown, local iwi and NZTA executives and their contractors.
Pedestrians and cyclists are taking advantage of the open day to try out the motorway.
The New Zealand Contractors’ Federation and Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand have hailed the early opening of the Hobsonville motorway today as a great example of the power of collaboration.
Speaking from the NZCF/ACENZ joint conference in Rotorua, which has a theme of ‘A Collaborative Industry’, federation Chief Executive Jeremy Sole said the new business model of clients, contractors and consultants working together, was proving extremely effective.
“This outcome is a testament to the highest forms of collaboration,” he said. “It is resulting in faster delivery times, reduced costs and higher quality and at the same time providing fantastic customer service during the period of the works.”
ACENZ Chief Executive Kieran Shaw said: “This certainly reflects the healthy industry environment around large infrastructure projects in New Zealand.”
1 Comments
Great the new motorway has opened early but please tell me Brighams Creek Rd will get the upgrade it needs after years of patchups. The section between Whenupai Village and Kauri Rd is a shocker and as commuters travelling to the North Shore from Kumeu have no choice but to use this road it should be improved so it doesnt feel like a offroad track.