SH1 Papakura to Drury

Construction update

9 June 2025

Construction update | He pānui

Kia ora

With more rain arriving as winter sets in, weather patterns are factored into our daily and longer-term planning, while our sediment and erosion controls take on increased importance to protect the environment.

It's been another good month with significant progress made, including opening multiple new working sites and completing the framing of the temporary steel truss bridge spanning Ngaakooroa Stream.

Good progress has been also being made on road widening within the central median of the motorway between the BP motorway service centre and Slippery Creek / Otuuwairoa Stream. When this phase of works is completed, motorway traffic lanes will be moved in towards the central median. This traffic shift will free up the necessary space on both sides of the motorway for us to continue road widening and utility services works.

SH22/Great South Road also continues to be a hive of activity. Our team is mainly focused on the realignment and upgrade of underground utility services, and realigning the southern end of Victoria Street in preparation for signalising the Victoria Street / SH22 / Mercer Street intersection. While the worksite in front of Mercer Street is very tight, the team is making solid progress.

We also held a community information day in late May. This regular event provides an opportunity for locals and the wider community to meet directly with the project team, discuss what's underway and coming up, and ask questions.  Read on to see some of the frequent questions raised on the day and the answers given.

Please note: From 22 June (subject to weather), the current right turn lane from SH22/Great South Road onto the Drury southbound on-ramp will close for up to two years.  This is needed to provide construction workspace for building the new motorway bridge over Great South Road and to realign the Drury southbound on-ramp. 

The left turn lane from Great South Road onto the southbound on-ramp will remain open for this stage of works - and a short detour up to the Drury roundabout and back to turn left onto the southbound on-ramp will be in place for affected motorists.  Alternatively, SH22 motorists approaching Drury from the west may choose to turn right into Great South Road and access SH1 southbound via Ramarama Interchange.  

Further information regarding this closure will be distributed closer to the time.

An M6 drill rig machine, test drilling ahead of 'soil nails' being installed.

Retaining walls | Taiapa pupuri whenua

As part of the project, retaining walls will be built on the eastern side of the Bremner Road bridge over the SH1 motorway. Three distinct types of retaining wall will be built here: a diaphragm wall, a soil nail wall, and a integral barrier wall. The type of retaining wall used depends on its engineering properties and suitability for each specific site.

Getting underway this week, construction will begin on a soil nail retaining wall beside the Drury southbound off-ramp on the south side of the Bremner Road overbridge. Soil nails by themselves are not a retaining wall; they are components used to stabilise and prevent the collapse of earth slopes. A soil nail retaining wall is made by inserting high-strength steel bars (called 'nails') sideways into the ground, which reinforces and stabilises the existing slope. After the soil nails are inserted, grout is pumped into the boreholes, which creates a strong bond between the nails and the surrounding soil. Finally, reinforcing steel mesh is placed over the stabilised slope and then covered with sprayed concrete (known as 'shotcrete') to form the final face of the wall.  An example of a soil nail retaining wall is shown in the image below.

Later, after motorway traffic lanes have been moved in towards the central median, we will start building an integral barrier wall near the southern end of the Drury southbound off-ramp. This wall will be built using precast segments, backfilled to act as a retaining wall and also a concrete motorway shoulder barrier.

Following the future demolition of the Bremner Road bridge over SH1, we will also begin building a diaphragm retaining wall (also called a 'D-wall') on the southbound side of SH1, north of where the bridge was located. This is a more specialised and intricate type of retaining structure, involving deep excavation and concrete pouring, with a unique design and construction process.

Looking west across the newly assembled temporary steel truss bridge over Ngaakooroa Stream.

Temporary works | Mahi taupua

Often when making existing motorways and roads wider, we need to do temporary works before permanent construction works can be carried out. One reason for temporary works is to reduce or manage traffic impacts and to ensure drivers, pedestrians and cyclists can still get where they need to go around our work sites. Impacts on customer journeys can be unavoidable but we are committed to minimising these as much as practicable.

As an example, we are building a single lane, temporary steel truss bridge over the Ngaakooroa Stream beside Bremner Road to enable the coming demolition and replacement of the existing two-lane bridge in the same location. The steel frame for this temporary bridge was completed last month and carefully moved into place. The temporary bridge will provide a route over the stream for those entering and leaving Auranga while the existing bridge is demolished and rebuilt. A small increase in journey time is expected for Auranga motorists as the single lane bridge will be safely controlled by temporary traffic lights. 

Another example involves building a new temporary on-ramp for users of the BP motorway service centre to get back onto the motorway, north of Slippery Creek / Otuuwairoa Stream. This temporary on-ramp will provide our construction team with the necessary room to dig up and build the permanent new service centre on-ramp further to the east, along with the third new southbound lane. Building this temporary on-ramp will also provide room for vegetation removal, utility services work and building a short noise wall just north of Slippery Creek.

Temporary works in the construction industry cover the full range of activities and 'things' that do not remain at project completion.  They can be as simple as timber 'boxing' forming the surrounds of a concrete pour or as significant as building a temporary bridge that will be disassembled and repurposed when it is no longer needed to carry Auranga traffic over Ngaakooroa Stream.

A great turnout at our most recent community information day.

Community information day | Te rā hapori

On Saturday 24 May, the project team attended the second community information day this year, held at the Drury School Hall. We had a total of 229 visitors through the door, all interested to learn about various projects underway in the area.

Some of the common questions asked about the Papakura to Drury project were:

• When will the traffic lights at the Mercer Street / Victoria Street / SH22 intersection be finished?

The current works on Victoria Street are to realign it directly opposite Mercer Street. Following this, the mouth of Mercer Street also needs to be upgraded before the traffic lights are installed. Currently, we expect to have the traffic lights up and running by the end of 2025 / early 2026.  But prior to that, we plan to partially reopen Victoria Street at the SH22 intersection with a left turn in and left turn out lane only (with a 'Give Way' control) in September this year.

• Will there continue to be nightly motorway closures?

Motorway closures are required when our works cannot be completed safely or efficiently during the day, but are only allowed at night due to the volume of traffic on the motorway. Our motorway closures are minimised wherever possible - such as closing a single lane only. Nightly motorway closures will be required throughout the life of the project.

• Is the cycleway / shared path still going to be built and will there be a connection to Great South Road at Slippery Creek?

The shared path will be built alongside the motorway between Drury and Papakura Interchanges and will extend the existing shared path north of Papakura up to Takanini Interchange. In a change from the original plan, and due to cost pressures, there will not be a connection across to Great South Road at Slippery Creek.  However, connections between the shared path and local roads will be provided at Park Estate Road and Bremner Road, near the bridges crossing the motorway.

• When will the full project be completed?

Stage 1B of the Papakura to Drury project is more complex than earlier Stage 1A, as it includes the complete relocation and lifting of Drury Interchange and building five new bridges. The completion of this stage of the project is expected in late 2030.

If you couldn't attend this last event, you can put our next community information day in your diary already – which will be held on Saturday 23 August at the Drury School Hall (23-33 Young Crescent), from 10am to 1pm.

In the meantime, if you have any queries about this update or the SH1 Papakura to Drury project in general, please do not hesitate to contact us by replying to this e-newsletter or get in touch using another method provided in the "Contact Us" section below.

Latest photos from site | Ngā pikitia

We are investigating underground services, carrying out earthworks, paving and piling across the project extent.

Looking ahead | E haere ake nei

During the coming months, our project works include:

• Continuing with underground service investigations around Drury Interchange including on the motorway, Great South Road, SH22, Bremner Road, Victoria Street and Mercer Street
• Working to realign the Victoria Street intersection with SH22 before installing traffic lights
• Continuing with installation of underground services on the western side of Victoria Street, north of the Drury Sports Complex carpark
• Finish building a temporary steel truss bridge over Ngaakooroa Stream for Bremner Road traffic
• Continuing earthworks either side of Slippery Creek / Otuuwairoa Stream in preparation for bridge building works
• Continuing with construction works in the central median of the motorway between Slippery Creek and the Bremner Road motorway overbridge
• Continue building a retaining wall on the eastern side of SH1, south of the Bremner Road motorway overbridge
• Begin work building the foundations for a new SH1 bridge over Slippery Creek / Otuuwairoa Stream
• Closing the right-hand turn lane from Great South Road onto the Drury southbound on-ramp.

Contact us | Whakapā mai

For further information regarding the project, please contact our team:

• P: 0800 796 796
• E: p2b@nzta.govt.nz
• W: www.nzta.govt.nz/p2b

We thank you in advance for your patience during these important motorway upgrades.

Kind regards | Ngā mihi
The SH1 Papakura to Drury team