Christmas shoppers queue in their cars outside the St Lukes shopping mall. The nearby motorway interchange is going to get a big upgrade. tPhoto / Chris Gorman
Christmas shoppers queue in their cars outside the St Lukes shopping mall. The nearby motorway interchange is going to get a big upgrade. tPhoto / Chris Gorman
Work will begin during May on Auckland's ageing, narrow St Lukes motorway interchange as part of a bigger upgrade of the crucial roading network towards the west.
Leighton Contractors, which won the $70 million job, said that offramp would be improved during its big Northwestern Motorway widening from six lanesto eight or three lanes to four in each direction.
The St Lukes interchange is only two lanes wide so traffic seeking to exit sometimes banks up on the motorway itself, slowing that section down considerably.
But under the works planned, the interchange will be moved and widened to ease congestion.
Andrew Stevens, Leighton Contractors NZ general manager said the work would be carried out on "a vital section of the Western Ring Route, which when complete, will significantly improve access and connectivity for Auckland's commuters and freight carriers".
NZ Transport Agency last week announced that it had signed a contract with Leighton to upgrade a 2km stretch of the motorway.
That will widen it from the St Lukes Road interchange in Western Springs to the Great North Road interchange at Waterview.
Leighton said its work would include making improvements to ramps and the motorway overbridge at the St Lukes interchange. The new layout and additional lanes will relieve congestion and improve safety in the area, Leighton said.
The project is part of the Transport Agency's Western Ring Route, to provide an alternative motorway link between Manukau City and Albany, bypassing Auckland's city centre and the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Leighton, headquartered in Australia, led the Wellington Gateway Partnership, picked by NZTA for the $1 billion Transmission Gully Motorway. The project involves financing, designing, building, maintaining and operating the link between Linden and MacKays Crossing, north of Wellington, for up to 25 years, the company said.
