Northern Corridor Improvements

31 May 2022

Bus on the recently opened platform at Constellation Station

All aboard the Northern Busway to Albany

On 8 May, the Northern Busway extension from Constellation Station to Albany Station opened, delivering an approx. 5km extension to the rapid transit network on Auckland’s North Shore.

The Northern Busway is the main arterial of the public transport network to and from the North Shore. At its pre-Covid peak, the busway transported over 36,0000 people to and from work, study and play every day. This represents 12% of all bus trips for the Auckland region so the extension to Albany will make a difference to a huge number of people. As more people return to work, this fast and efficient public transport network offers a congestion free way to get around and is important to help keep our growing city moving.

Jump on board the Northern Busway and give it a try yourself.

Watch the official opening video.

Shared path construction near McClymonts Road

SH1 shared path update

We’ve been receiving lots of enquires from people keen to know when the shared path adjacent to SH1 will open so they can explore their community on foot or by wheels. It’s great to hear from people excited to use the path to get around.

While some short sections have been completed, other areas still need a lot more work such as the McClymonts Road connection where we are also building a ramp and staircase. The shared path is also providing much needed access for the construction team so we can safely access the work site.

The shared path and local connections are scheduled to be open in late 2022/early 2023 - we’ll keep you updated on progress in future updates.

Left: An example of road layers; Right: Stabilising on SH18

Building a road layer by layer

To build a road, there are many layers of different materials, and each must be made one at a time, just like a cake. A lot of work goes into the first few layers (see image above) to ensure the road has the strength needed for thousands of vehicles to travel on it and that it provides a smooth ride for people in vehicles too.

With approximately 20km of new road lanes required across the project for the Northern Busway and motorway upgrades, our granular layer team, who build the sub-grade improvement and stabilised sub-base layers have been kept busy. By
mid-June 2022, the team will have completed all the subgrade improvement and stabilised subbase layers, which required 50,000 tonnes of aggregate (stone), covering an area of 80,000m2 – the equivalent of 11 rugby fields!

That’s all from us this month, we’d love to hear from people using the Northern Busway to hear your feedback – drop us a line via the details below.

Whakapā mai | Contact us

For more information on the Auckland Northern Corridor project, contact us on 0800 NCI Project (0800 624 776) or at northerncorridor@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website http://www.nzta.govt.nz/nci