Newmarket Viaduct Replacement completed

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says the formal completion today of the Newmarket Viaduct Replacement Project marks a key milestone in the Government’s long-term strategy to improve transport connections in Auckland and grow the region’s economy.

“We recognise Auckland’s pivotal role as the economic powerhouse of New Zealand and our transport investment is helping us meet some of our key economic objectives to make it easier for freight and people to travel with more reliability and with greater safety,” Mr Brownlee said.

A total of $3.4 billion is being invested in the Auckland region’s transport system between 2012/15 through the National Land Transport Programme alone, including $1.6 billion for state highways, $968 million for local roads and $890 million for public transport.

Mr Brownlee and Prime Minister John Key joined officials from the NZTA, the NGA Newmarket alliance team responsible for the viaduct replacement, civic and community leaders and iwi at a ceremony to mark the official completion of the project.

“Today’s ceremony also marks the completion of a wider transport milestone for Auckland – the end of more than a decade of staged improvements through the city’s Central Motorway Junction,” Mr Brownlee says.

“The $244 million Newmarket project marks the southern end of the Central Motorway Junction – the busiest section of motorway in New Zealand. At its northern end is the Victoria Park Tunnel, which opened in late 2011 – the first of the Government’s Roads of National Significance to be completed.

“In between both are a host of other motorway improvements. Combined, they provide much better transport connections around and through Auckland improving traffic flows between State Highways 1 and 16 and ensuring freight can move a lot more efficiently in out of Auckland’s main container port.

“Removing the old viaduct at Newmarket and constructing a new one with only a minimum of disruption to traffic on the Southern Motorway (SH1) is a remarkable achievement of engineering and innovation. But completion of this amazing project is not the end of the story.”

Just a few kilometres west of the Newmarket Viaduct, work is gathering momentum on another of our Roads of National Significance – the Western Ring Route and its two big highway programmes, the Waterview Connection and the Causeway Upgrade Project, raising and widening the Northwestern Motorway (SH16) causeway.

“When these related projects are completed in about four years, State Highway 1 will no longer be the sole motorway corridor through Auckland. The Western Ring Route will provide a 47 kilometre-long alternative and make freight and people connections to and from Auckland International Airport a lot easier,” Mr Brownlee says.

“Importantly, both the Western Ring Route and State Highway will add much needed resilience to Auckland’s transport network and give freight operations, coach companies and those who travel by car added journey reliability.”