He pānui | Construction update

Kia ora

The weather really hasn't been our friend over the last month when dry weather was required to lay 20 nightshifts of asphalt before our upcoming switch of all four traffic lanes across to the east.  The good news is that the southbound loop on-ramp will reopen at the same time as the southbound lanes are shifted across to the east – weather permitting this will occur overnight on Sunday night to open at 5am on Monday morning.  All going well with the weather, the northbound lanes will then shift across the following night, to open at 5am on Tuesday morning.

There are more details about the new traffic layout below.  Following the switch, widening the northbound side of the road to fit in a new third lane will shift up a gear.

Stormwater improvements continue across the project site with more sections of the box culverts installed on the northbound side of the motorway.  Planting the swale drains (shallow drainage channels) on the southbound side is largely complete between Papakura Interchange and the BP motorway service centre.  These plants are one way stormwater runoff from the motorway is filtered of impurities before emptying into the harbour.

Further south by Drury Interchange, the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) railway bridges are really taking shape above ground with the concrete decks being poured.  Work is also starting soon to install barriers and rail protection screens on all three bridge decks over the coming months.   Following this, further work on these bridges will pause before they are completed as part of the main rebuilding of Drury Interchange, expected to commence in early 2024.

Kia whakamauī | Keep left if exiting northbound at Papakura

To provide the area needed to build a third lane on the northbound side of the motorway, all four traffic lanes are soon shifting over to the east - weather permitting on Sunday and Monday nights.

North of Drury Interchange, before before reaching the BP motorway service centre on the opposite side, the two northbound lanes will be split by the central median barrier until mid-2024.  Motorists in the right-hand lane will be safely separated from southbound traffic by temporary steel barriers throughout this phase.

The two key messages are:

• Northbound drivers who want to exit the motorway at Papakura northbound off-ramp must move into the left-hand lane before reaching the BP service centre opposite

• If you're in the right-hand lane once the lanes have split, then your next opportunity to exit the motorway will be at Takanini Interchange, not Papakura. 

Drivers can use both lanes to continue their journey on SH1 north of Papakura.

The traffic lane layout of the upcoming traffic switch this weekend

Ia whakaahua, he kōrero | Every picture tells a story

Each month, aerial photos are taken along the project length to record the progress that's been made, and a selection is uploaded to our project website.  What story does the picture below tell?  First there's the obvious - the motorway is being widened, a noise wall has been built by neighbouring homes and the road pavement on that same (southbound) side of the motorway looks close to complete.

What's not quite so obvious from the air is the hundreds and hundreds of small plants that now line the swale drains to filter stormwater, and the drainage openings that take stormwater from neighbouring properties under the noise wall and into temporary stormwater pipes (temporary until the large box culverts are completed).  Also less obvious is why there is a large, raised mound of aggregate rock on the other (northbound) side of the motorway.  The large mound is for 'pre-loading', which is required to settle and strengthen softer ground before something heavy is placed on it or driven into it, such as piles.

A section of the concrete box culvert will be installed at this location when monitoring data shows the ground is no longer moving with the weight of the aggregate pressing down on it – in other words when it is sufficiently compacted and strong enough to hold the weight of the box culvert.

To see more aerial photos, visit the project's website at www.nzta.govt.nz/p2b and open the blue tab headed 'Taiwhanga pikitia - gallery'.

Ngā pikitia | Latest photos from site

We remain busy across the site, with lots of pavement and asphalt works; stormwater management improvement works; landscape planting; installing and future-proofing utility services and continuing bridge building works by Drury Interchange.

E haere ake nei | Looking ahead

During the coming months, our project works include:

• Continuing to build box culverts and pavement for road widening on the northbound side of the motorway
• Continuing pavement and drainage works on the southbound side of the motorway, north of Papakura Interchange
• Continuing work on a new southbound on-ramp at Papakura Interchange
• Beginning drainage, shared path and pavement works on Beach Road
• Continuing work on three new culverts crossing under the motorway
• Relocating and upgrading of utility services
• At the NIMT bridge site, installing barriers and rail protection screens on the concrete decks of the three new motorway bridges being built over the railway lines at Drury Interchange.

Whakapā mai | Contact us

For further information regarding the project please contact our team:

P: 0800 796 796 or text 027 703 5284 - for construction-related queries
P: 0800 741 722 - for general project queries
E: p2b@nzta.govt.nz
W: www.nzta.govt.nz/p2b

You can also visit the Papakura to Drury project site office during normal business hours (weekdays 8am-5pm) at 25 Tegal Road, Drury.