The NZ Transport Agency will open the second bridge on the SH20-1 Manukau Extension project to motorists on Tuesday 16 December.
The 82 metre bridge will give a connection for local traffic across the four-lane motorway beneath it. Motorists will use the westbound lanes only for the first few months while work to open the eastbound lanes is completed in early 2009. In the event of bad weather, the new bridge will open overnight on the next suitable night.
The opening of the westbound lanes will require the prohibition of right turns from Wiri Station Road and Davies Avenue in both directions. When the eastbound lanes of the bridge open in early 2009, Davies Avenue will close between Putney Way and Wiri Station Road until the new motorway opens in mid 2010.
Located in the heart of Manukau City, the Wiri Station Road Bridge has taken 18 months to build and crosses over the future motorway at a height of 5.1 metres. All 18 of the bridge’s pre-cast concrete beams were manufactured at a special site in Takanini and have been placed on top of two piers which are each 15 metres wide.
“The NZ Transport Agency is proud to deliver this milestone on the Manukau Extension project to motorists. This bridge is the second of twelve on the project, another of which will be opening in the coming months,” says NZTA acting regional manager Tommy Parker.
A new on-ramp for southbound traffic at Redoubt Road is also scheduled to open early next year as part of a triple level interchange to link SH20 and SH1. The new on-ramp will head directly south from Redoubt Road and replace the existing on-ramp that loops beneath Redoubt Road Bridge to join SH1. Changes will also be made to the motorway layout at this time.
Construction on the $210 million project started in June 2006 and is scheduled to be completed in mid 2010. The motorway will give motorists a direct link from SH1 to the airport and central and western suburbs, via SH20. The project forms part of the southern section of the Western Ring Route, a 48 kilometre alternative to SH1 via SH20, SH16 and SH18 between Manukau and Albany.
For more information visit www.nzta.govt.nz/manukauextension/(external link) or call 0800 742 021.
Note to editors:
Please see the attached fact sheet for more details.
