The NZ Transport Agency is advising motorists to plan ahead and check for the latest information on-line before travelling with two separate motorway closures planned this coming weekend.
State Highway 20 is planned to be closed for up to 12 hours from 8pm on Saturday, 15 November to allow for the main span of a new pedestrian/cycle bridge to be lifted into place over the highway as part of the Onehunga foreshore restoration. Detours will be in place; with traffic diversions from 7pm. SH20 will reopen by 8.00am on Sunday morning.
Weighing more than 100 tonnes, 80 metres in length and 6 metres wide, the steel truss is a large structure and contractors are allowing up to 26 hours to move it from the local site compound, transport it down Orpheus Drive and then lift it by crane onto its piers and abutments overnight. To accommodate the move, in addition to the night-time closure of SH20, Orpheus Drive will be fully closed for up to 24 hours from 6:30am on Saturday.
Motorists are also advised of changes to driving on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and other nearby sections of the city’s motorway network this Sunday morning (16 November) for the annual “Bike the Bridge” event.
The two lanes on the southbound (city) box girder (clip-on) on the bridge, together with the Shelly Beach Road off-ramp, will be closed from approximately 12.30am until 9.45am.
Six traffic lanes on the bridge – three in each direction - will remain open.
Access will also be restricted for drivers at the Constellation Drive interchange on the Northern Motorway (State Highway 1) and along a short section of the Upper Harbour Highway (SH18) from Constellation Drive to Paul Mathews Road from 3.30am to 8am.
“The event is being held at a time when traffic volumes are light, but the temporary changes mean that drivers will have to be alert and careful - they will be sharing parts of Auckland’s network with hundreds of cyclists,“ says the Transport Agency’s acting Highway Manager, Mieszko Iwaskow.
“The event has been timed so that there is as little disruption to drivers as possible, however people should be patient and allow a little more time for a safe journey.”
There will also be some disruption to local roads north of Albany. The Northern Busway will also be closed and alternative bus services will operate on local roads.
Details are available at at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/service-announcements/stop-closures-due-to-bike-the-bridge/(external link)
Motorists are advised to check the latest conditions at www.highwayinfo.govt.nz(external link)
For more information please contact:
Andy Knackstedt
Media Manager
NZ Transport Agency
