Central motorway improvements

Three projects are under way to address Auckland's traffic congestion in the central motorway area and ease traffic problems at the core of the Auckland motorway system. Together, these projects aim to help Auckland's central motorway network work more efficiently and ultimately, help keep Auckland moving.

Changes to the southern motorway: Motorists using the southern motorway (SH1) northbound between the Gillies Avenue on-ramp and Grafton overbridge will notice changes as of Monday 5 July 2004. Visit the Transit New Zealand website for details.

Grafton gully project | Central motorway junction | Victoria Park Tunnel

Grafton gully project (completed)

The $68 million project was the first of the three central motorway improvement projects to be completed, and was finished in February 2004.

Completed works include:

new motorway on- and off-ramps to SH1 and SH16
removing the dogleg intersection from the Strand to Stanley Street by realigning the Strand under a new railbridge
widening Stanley Street and providing traffic signals at Alten Road
providing a free left turn from Stanley Street into Beach Road and an extra right turn from Beach Road into Stanley Street
providing a new road/bridge link from Wellesley Street to Grafton Road
providing a new bridge on Grafton Road allowing SH16 to pass under.

Central motorway junction

This project will provide new connections between the northern motorway and Auckland's port, and the northern motorway to the north-western motorway. These connections aim to improve both safety standards and traffic flow through the Spaghetti Junction interchange.

The project is being carried out in two stages:

CMJ Stage 1 - Symonds to Gillies
CMJ Stage 2 - core project

CMJ Stage 1 - Symonds to Gillies

Stage 1 of the project upgrades the Symonds Street to Gillies Avenue section of the southern motorway.

Works include:

widening the motorway and bridges between Symonds Street and Grafton Road to accommodate a new southbound lane
continuation of the existing lane at Grafton Road on ramp, to remove the current merge
one new southbound lane added between the Grafton Road on ramp and Gillies Avenue off ramp
widening the Khyber Pass viaduct to provide an additional southbound lane and to allow for an additional lane in the future
extra road width added between Khyber Pass on ramp and Gillies Avenue off ramp, which will maintain direct access between the on an off ramps and allow for a future lane
two lanes to run the full length of the Gillies Avenue off ramp
a new direct access lane between Gillies Avenue on ramp and Khyber Pass off ramp, to remove the merge with motorway traffic.

The project is being undertaken by Freeflow, who are an alliance between Transit New Zealand, Fletcher Construction Ltd, Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner Ltd and Higgins Contractors Ltd. Auckland City's role in the project is mainly consultative.

Works started in October 2002 and will continue until early 2005, with some aspects of the project (such as the area around Khyber Pass) due to be completed later in 2004. The project cost is $55 million.

For further information, contact Freeflow:

Phone	0800 863 733
Visitor information centre	Cnr Alten Rd and Stanley St Grafton 8.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday
Parking	Visitor parking is available.

or visit the Transit New Zealand website.

CMJ Stage 2 - core project

The Central Motorway Junction stage 2 upgrade started after the completion of stage 1 of the CMJ (Grafton Gully, Khyber Pass to Gilies Avenue and Gillies Avenue to Symonds Street).

Work started on CMJ Stage 2 in January 2004 and is expected to be completed by mid 2007. Motorists will benefit from improved safety standards and smoother traffic flow through the Spaghetti Junction interchange.

Possible traffic delays to streets leading from the CBD to the motorway network and some changes to local roads connecting to the motorway due to construction. Permanent and temporary diversions are in place.

This project will provide new connections between:

the northern motorway and Auckland's port
the northern motorway and north-western motorway.

The new motorway-to-motorway connections are mostly being constructed alongside the existing carriageways to ensure as little disruption to motorists as possible.

The new connections will be tied into the existing motorway network between April and November 2005. Traffic management plans will be in place and widely publicised to make sure any disruption to motorists in minimized.

Off and on ramp improvements include:

changing the southern motorway (SH1) off-ramp, northbound to Nelson Street, to a standard left hand diverge
adjusting the Nelson Street/Union Street/Pitt Street on- and off-ramp connections to the motorway.

Additional lanes and improved lane arrangements include:

widening of SH1 southbound to provide an additional lane between the Hobson Street and Symonds Street on-ramps
improving the connection between SH1 northbound and SH16 westbound
providing an additional lane on SH1 northbound between the diverge to SH16 (mentioned above) and the revised Nelson Street off-ramp
widening of the north-western motorway (SH16) westbound to provide an additional lane between Newton Road and just west of the Bond Street underpass.

Following the completion of Stage 2 and the creation of the additional lane from Newton to St Lukes, the work will then be extended through the proposed Victoria Park tunnel and along the motorway in front of Freeman's Bay/St Mary's Bay up to the Harbour Bridge.

The project is being delivered by Complete Joint Venture, a joint venture between Fletcher Construction and Leighton Contractors (Australia).

Stage 2 works will be publicised by Complete Joint Venture as they come into effect, via a combination of newspaper advertising, public notices, newsletters, mail-drops, radio messages and mobile signage.

For further information contact Complete Joint Venture:

Phone	0800 265 2673
Visitor information centre	13-19 Howe Street Auckland Central 8.00am - 5.30pm Monday to Thursday 8.00am - 4.30pm Friday 10.00am - noon Saturday (and the first Sunday of each month)
Parking	Visitor parking is available

or visit the Transit New Zealand website.

Victoria Park Tunnel

Transit New Zealand's Victoria Park Tunnel project seeks to provide capacity for traffic crossing the Auckland Harbour Bridge, by better managing the traffic flow through St Mary's Bay and across the Victoria Park Viaduct to Wellington Street on the southern motorway.

The project aims to:

reduce congestion on the motorway during the morning and evening peak
reduce queuing on the Wellington Street on-ramp in the evening peak
improve the pedestrian facilities in the vicinity of the corridor.

Transit New Zealand aim to deliver these improvements by providing three new lanes in a northbound tunnel to the west of the existing motorway viaduct. The motorway viaduct will remain to accommodate southbound traffic. The section of motorway through St Marys Bay will also be widened to provide an additional lane in each direction.

Transit has served Auckland City with the notices of requirement to acquire extra land for the project.

Click here to have your say on Transit's notice of requirement