6 August 2026   

Water and roading infrastructure in the city’s northwest is being upgraded to make sure these essential services continue to meet the needs of our growing communities.

Wairakei Road wastewater upgrade starts soon

We’re replacing ageing wastewater pipes on Wairakei Road between Ilam Road and Grahams Road, starting on 24 August.

Some of these pipes date back to 1928, others to 1958, so they need to be replaced to meet the needs of communities in this part of the city’s northwest.

We’re installing a large-diameter trunk main to carry wastewater flows from the wider catchment, and a smaller, shallower collector main to collect wastewater from properties along Wairakei Road and carry it into the trunk main. We’ll also be installing a small section of water supply pipe on Greers Road at Wairakei Road, to connect to the new pipe recently installed on Greers Road, and on Wairakei Road between Greers Road and Grahams Road.

Wastewater pipes are buried deep beneath the surface of the road, so we need to dig deep trenches to reach them. The work can cause noise, vibrations and dust, although our contractor will be working hard to reduce those impacts. Pumps will be used to remove excess ground water from the trenches, called dewatering. In some areas we’ll be using sheet piling to make the trenches safe to work in.

This work will connect with the new wastewater pipes on Aorangi Road (part of the recent Nor’West Arc cycleway and wastewater upgrades project). We won’t be working in the intersection of Aorangi Road and Wairakei Road as part of this work.

The project will be completed in stages. These stages may briefly overlap while work progresses.

1. Ilam Road to 165 Wairakei Road, east of the intersection with Aorangi Road. 
2. 176 Wairakei Road to Greers Road
3. Greers Road to Grahams Road.

Overall, the project is planned to be completed by mid-2028 – subject to favourable weather and construction conditions.

Traffic impacts

We’ve worked hard to minimise the impact of our work on Wairakei Road, but if you live, work or travel through the area, you should plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey.

During stage one, Ilam Road to 165 Wairakei Road, this section of Wairakei Road will be reduced to one lane city-bound, with detours in place. The first week of work will focus on dewatering to prepare the site, before excavation starts.

Businesses will be open as usual and there won’t be any excavation work within the Aorangi Road/Wairakei Road intersection, but there will be some changes to on-street parking to make room for the worksite while keeping traffic flowing.

Detours will be in place for west-bound services on Route 8 – affected bus stops will have temporary signage with directions to the nearest available stop, and MetroInfo will have the latest information on detours and temporary stop locations.

If you live in the area, we encourage you to sign up for updates from our contractor Dormer Construction: https://dormer.co.nz/wairakei.php or check our webpage www.ccc.govt.nz/northest for the latest information.

In progress works

Nor’West Arc cycleway and wastewater upgrade – Matsons Avenue, Chapel Street, Harewood Road

In July, our contractor began installing the new wastewater pipe from the newly constructed manhole at the Harewood Road and Chapel Street intersection. A complex part of this work involved installing the new pipe beneath existing 66kV power cables – this required a high level of precision and close coordination to protect this critical infrastructure while maintaining progress.

Completing this critical connection establishes the base of the new pipe on Matsons Avenue. Despite challenging ground conditions and high groundwater levels, our contractor is progressing well with this section and is now continuing south towards Windermere Road.

Traffic will be moved to the southern side of Harewood Road over the next week, while our contractor starts work on the kerb and footpath on the section outside Mitre10.

Harewood Road water supply project

Work is continuing to progress on the replacement of water supply pipes on Harewood Road.

Stages one and two are nearing completion. There is some remaining work to do at the Harewood Road/Greers Road intersection – this is tentatively planned for 9-12 August (nights only).

Stage three – between Greers Road and Farrington Avenue – started with service investigations in early July, followed a few weeks later by the main work. For this stage, one of the westbound lanes between Greers Road and Farrington Avenue is closed to traffic and on-street parking has been removed.

Later this month, our contractor plans to start work at the roundabout (nights only) with traffic management in place to keep traffic flowing. Work will then start in Wilmot Street, Hoani Street and Ellery Street. Both the roundabout and the side street works will start with service investigations, followed by the main works. Planning is also under way for stage four, working from Breens Road back towards the roundabout. Residents and businesses will receive more details about the next stages of work before they start.

Stage 3 of the Harewood Road water supply upgrade

Stay updated

Regular e-newsletters like this one will be sent throughout the duration of the Northwest upgrades programme. If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, they can subscribe on our website at www.ccc.govt.nz/Northwest