Subscribe to RSSRain May Affect Mangere
The weather will dictate if the new Mangere bridge will open to some traffic tomorrow morning.
NZTA and those involved in the project are completing final preparations so that the first southbound lanes on the duplicate Mangere Harbour Bridge on SH20 can open.
NZTA’s Tommy Parker, warns that this work is very much weather dependant and the weather “does look a bit dicey at the moment.”
“The pavement needs to be dry in order to do line marking of the road surface – if it’s wet, this can’t happen and the opening will have to be deferred until later in the week.”
If the weather remains dry, the NZTA will open two motorway lanes on the duplicate bridge plus a third lane for local traffic between the communities of Mangere Bridge and Onehunga on either side of the harbour.
“There will be changes to the layout of the highway when the first lanes do open, and people should drive with care,” says Mr Parker.
When all work on the duplicate and existing bridges is completed by the end of August, there will be 10 lanes of traffic over the harbour – three motorway lanes in each direction, two lanes for local traffic, and two shoulder lanes for buses. The NZTA estimates that the improvements will deliver journey savings of up to 20 minutes between the Auckland cbd and Auckland International Airport at peak times.
The duplicate bridge was officially opened yesterday seven months ahead of schedule by the Prime Minister. The ribbon cutting was followed by a community day that attracted over 16 thousand people using the opportunity to walk and cycle over the 650 metre-long duplicate bridge.
Work will continue up until August 31 to:
- refurbish and repave the old bridge and its approaches
- ‘tie-in’ a new dedicated lane to Mahunga Drive off-ramp
- final markings on the new lane
- safety checks
Facts:
- More than 80,000 vehicles per day use the existing Mangere Bridge. It is expected that by 2021, 160,000 will use the bridge each day
- Cost - $230 million
- More than one million man hours have been worked since construction started
The duplicate bridge in numbers
- 650 metres long and 20.5 metres wide
- 7 piers
- 8 spans
- 120 workers involved in its construction
- 15,000 cubic metres of concrete poured
- 2,500 tonnes of reinforcing steel used
- Carries four lanes of southbound traffic, including one dedicated lane to the Mahunga Drive off-ramp for local traffic between Onehunga and Mangere Bridge village
NZTA’s stated initiatives to make it easier to go by bike and on foot in the area
- A distinctive blue and white cable-stay bridge across SH20 at Beachcroft Avenue provides a crossing point for school children and residents between Hillsborough and Onehunga.
- Ramps at either end allow pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair users to benefit from the bridge, replaced as the previous bridge was too short to span the newly widened motorway.
- The bridge is a gateway to the southern section of the Western Ring Route, similar to the yellow cable-stay footbridge at Clarks Lane on the SH18 Hobsonville Deviation project in the northern end
- The shared walk and cycleway alongside the Queenstown Road off-ramp has been upgraded to connect Queenstown Road and Orpheus Drive
- An underpass at the northern end of Mangere Bridge has new lighting and street art to act as a deterrent to graffiti
- The new Onehunga Harbour Road foot bridge provides a traffic free link from Onehunga Mall to the old Mangere Bridge and the Waikaraka cycleway
- Cycle lanes in both directions have been added to the new Rimu Road overbridge
- Footbridge at Hastie Avenue with accessible ramps for wheelchair users, pedestrians and cyclists
- New footpath on the northern side of Onehunga Harbour Road
- The circuit path has been replaced alongside the Onehunga Lagoon
- A new shared cycleway across the Waterfront Road reserve from Coronation Road to Mahunga Drive
- Upgraded cycleway on the southern approach to the old Mangere Bridge
Other features
- The potted effect on the Rimu Road overbridge mimics the effect of volcanic material splatter, in a nod to Auckland’s volcanic heritage
- Special ‘shotcrete’ effects give the appearance of large basalt boulders on a large retaining wall at the Walmsley Road off-ramp
6 Comments
NZ’s new widest road bridge!
“80,000 vehicles per day use the existing Mangere Bridge. It is expected that by 2021, 160,000 vehicles”
100% increase in ~ 10 years. That is about 7% growth every year if it comes true. Which is several times Auckland’s population growth. I hope not, but then, if one thing seems unbroken, it’s Auckland’s appetite for cars.
Does that increase mean it will be nearing capacity in 10-15 years?
I certainly hope not, but you know how these things go…
Would be interesting to know their expectation for vehicles by 2030. And whether a city - airport rail route would have been a much more viable project
Well, we can always complete the “ladder”, and build a motorway from Onehunga to Silvia Park and on to Pakuranga.
Shudder.
Well rain does not seem to have affected the opening - I used the left hand lanes last night and again this morning. Traffic running just fine.