Harbour Bridge stormwater upgrade part of advanced Auckland projects

A number of Auckland roading projects totalling nearly $24M will be brought forward by Transit New Zealand.

“With some other Transit projects being slower to start, we are looking to advance some Auckland projects that were originally programmed for later years in the 10-year state highway plan.

One of the largest projects will see the end of untreated discharge into the Waitemata Harbour from the Auckland Harbour Bridge. $3M will be spent on upgrading stormwater run-off from the bridge through the introduction of systems that will first treat surface water and spillages before discharging them into the harbour.

The additional funding will also enable detailed investigation work to get underway on another significant project, which involves extending Transit’s advanced traffic management systems (ATMS). At present closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) cover a total of 35 kilometres on the Northern, Southern and Northwestern motorways. These feed ‘live’ information to the Traffic Management Centre at Northcote from where staff are able to deploy resources to speed-up the clearance of blockages caused by incidents and accidents. An extended system would allow better monitoring of congestion by extending coverage along the Southern and Southwestern motorways, and on parts of the Northwestern Motorway at Waterview, Te Atatu and Lincoln Roads. The total cost of this project is $4.5M.

Investigation work will also begin on adding bus lanes to the shoulders of Auckland motorways. Their introduction is expected within the next three years, subject to further consultation with stakeholders, and will cost in excess of $5M.

Also included are projects to improve the flow of traffic at the Greenlane Interchange on the Southern Motorway, and the extension of the Windy Ridge northbound passing lane on the Northern Motorway.

In addition to the projects, $5.7M will be made available for additional safety measures, including the removal of roadside hazards, guardrail retrofitting, seal and shoulder widening, right turn bays, sight distance improvements and culvert and drain protection.

Transit Regional Manager, Wayne McDonald, says that while approval of the funds has still to be received from Transfund, all plans are ready to move on the projects. “We are very pleased that an early start on these projects now looks possible.”

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