Road users are reminded by the NZ Transport Agency that there is a risk of flooding on a section of Auckland's Northwestern Motorway [State Highway 16] over the next few days because of unusually high tides in the Waitemata Harbour.
High tides of up to 3.5m - about 0.4 metres higher than normal - will occur from Saturday, 6 November, to Wednesday, 10 November.
The section of motorway most likely to be affected is the causeway across the upper Waitemata Harbour between the Patiki Road Interchange and the Rosebank Road bridges. The cycleway beside the highway will be flooded, and the NZTA advises cyclists to try to avoid using it 90 minutes either side of the high tide mark.
'It is unlikely the motorway itself will be affected, unless weather conditions like strong winds have an impact on the tides, but people should still drive with care when using this section of highway," says the NZTA's State Highways Manager for Auckland, Tommy Parker. "There is a traffic management plan to re-direct traffic away from the causeway if there is flooding."
The NZTA is planning to raise the causeway by 1.5 metres and widen the motorway to provide extra lanes as part of the Western Ring Route development, one of the Government's seven roads of national significance.
