Motorway madness

When will it end?

Long-running roadworks to widen State Highway 1 between Manukau and Papakura have made life a misery for motorists and upset residents who have suffered shaking and damage to homes.

Delays along the busy stretch of motorway have become the norm since work started in October 2015, with changes to the project pushing out the completion date to the end of 2019.

To make matters worse, more than 20 homeowners are battling the NZ Transport Agency, saying vibrations from the roadworks have sent cracks snaking through their walls and ceilings.

One Takanini homeowner, Gayleen Smith, has an estimated $500,000 damage to her home with an engineering report commissioned by NZTA finding on “balance of probabilities” the house has been affected by the roadworks.

NZTA — which is in charge of the $268 million project to add new lanes to the motorway — denies homes are being damaged.

NZTA senior project manager Chris Hunt said the “Southern Corridor improvements project” was complex and taking place within a narrow motorway.

It includes extra lanes in both directions, an upgraded Takanini interchange and a shared pedestrian and cycle path.

The initial plan was to widen the bridges over the Pahurehure Inlet but investigations showed the bridges had to be replaced.

Last year, NZTA announced it would take a further 12 months to finish the job and removed signs saying “New lanes completed by the end of 2018”.

Bombay resident Catherine Fuller, whose husband is stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours twice a day because of the roadworks, said: “The fact they think they can just slip another year of this under the carpet is infuriating and insulting.”

AA principal adviser of infrastructure Barney Irvine said the works were one of the worst chokepoints on the Auckland network, and slowed thousands of commuters every day.

“The pain is getting worse. Last year, congestion added 10 minutes more to the morning commute between Drury and Manukau from the previous year.

“The delays to the works around Takanini can only be described as a kick in the guts to motorists. Completion of this work cannot come soon enough,” Irvine said.

Touch wood, another major project on the Northern Motorway to build the last link of Auckland’s western ring route will not go the same way. The new road will create an uninterrupted route between Albany, West Auckland, Auckland Airport and Manukau to the south.

Upper Harbour Highway will be upgraded to a motorway, and the Northern Busway will be extended from Constellation Drive to the Albany park-and-ride station. It will be a single lane in each direction on the east side of SH1 and include a new bridge over SH1 at its northern end to connect to the Albany Bus Station.

The fact they think they can just slip another year of this under the carpet is infuriating and insulting. Bombay resident Catherine Fuller

Changes within the Constellation Bus Station include a new platform for northbound buses, extending an existing platform, a new station building and a new pedestrian overpass.

The SH1 motorway and bridge crossing at the Greville Rd interchange northbound and southbound will also be widened and the existing bridge over Rosedale Rd widened in both directions. The McClymonts Rd overbridge will be replaced by a new bridge south of the existing alignment.

The SH1 motorway crossing Constellation Drive Highway will be widened with an extra northbound lane and the bridge over Constellation Drive gains a lane each way.

In late February, a new shared bridge for cyclists and pedestrians at Albany over the Northern Motorway opened — complete with a secret feature.

The Tirohanga Wha¯ nui Bridge — which means “Panoramic View” — has a main water pipe installed directly underneath it to help cater for the growing needs of people in the area.

Construction on the $700m northern motorway-to-motorway project started in April last year and is due to finish in mid-2022.

NZTA said that at the moment SH1 is the only main route between Auckland and Northland and gets congested at peak times.

Pressure on the motorway system around Albany and North Harbour has grown substantially in recent years and is set to continue over the next 30 years — hence the alternative route for west and southbound traffic, the agency said.

The other motorway project taking shape in Auckland is the widening of SH16 from Lincoln Rd to Westgate and will tie into the recently completed Lincoln Rd interchange. It will create three traffic lanes in each direction and a dedicated bus shoulder lane in each direction.

The popular northwestern cycleway will be extended alongside the motorway. The $110m project, part of the Western Ring Route, is due for completion this year.Irvine said not only will motorists get extra lane space when work is finished, but they will see an end to all the disruption that occurs with roadworks. Future projects