Focus on Te Atatu as Auckland motorway upgrade continues

The NZ Transport Agency says it has taken another significant step towards the completion of Auckland’s Western Ring Route by naming a preferred tenderer to upgrade the Te Atatu Interchange on State Highway 16 (Northwestern Motorway).

The Transport Agency’s Highways Manager for Auckland and Northland, Tommy Parker, says the announcement is a positive development after a rigorous evaluation process that began last November.

“We are now starting more detailed discussions with Fulton Hogan to ensure it has the ability to deliver on its bid,” Mr Parker says. “The next few weeks are about ensuring the project will deliver the right outcomes, with the best value for money.

Mr Parker says the Transport Agency considered bids from six tenderers made up of major construction and design companies in both New Zealand and Australia.

“All consortia (or tenders) have been well engaged throughout the process and we’re really impressed with the quality of tenders submitted” he says.

Construction at Te Atatu is due to start early in the New Year, and the improvements at the interchange include:-

• Widening the existing section of the motorway between the Te Atatu Road and Patiki Road interchanges
• Improvements to the on and off-ramps at Te Atatu will mean safer access and exit to and from the motorway.
• The current Te Atatu Road overbridge will be widened to provide an additional lane
• There will be improvements to the Northwestern cycleway beside the motorway.
• The motorway will also be lowered to give better freight clearance beneath Te Atatu Road Bridge
• There will be improved treatment of stormwater before it is discharged into the Waitemata Harbour.

The Te Atatu Interchange is one of five projects currently under construction or about to start to complete the Western Ring Route - one of the Government’s seven roads of national significance to help promote economic growth. Once completed, the Western Ring Route will provide a strategic alternative to SH1, central Auckland and the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It will provide a 47 kilometre-long link with the Waterview Connection project and its new interchange at Great North Road - connecting the Northwestern and Southwestern Motorway (SH20).