Ask Phoebe: Foreshore revamp well on its way

Onehunga Bay Project.

Could we please have an update on the Onehunga foreshore restoration? On a recent drive along SH20 (the Southwestern Motorway) I saw what appeared to be a new bridge - where will this go, and when?

Andrew Molloy, Mt Roskill.

The foreshore by Orpheus Drive is being restored to bring back a natural coast edge. This was considered necessary to restore the natural character of Onehunga Bay, which was bisected when State Highway 20 was built in the 1970s. There will be new headlands, with nine beaches, three of them sandy ones for swimming.

The project site extends across the coastal marine area from Seacliffe Rd to the west, across to the Manukau Cruising Club to the east, and includes works in Onehunga Bay Reserve and lagoon to the north of SH20.

Within the 6.8ha of new park land will be open spaces, a boat ramp and picnic areas. A pedestrian and cycle bridge will connect the new land to Onehunga Lagoon.

The concrete bridge abutments are already in place on either side of SH20. The structure you can see from the motorway is the bridge, which needs to be lifted into place.

The $28 million project, with input from the community and iwi, is being funded by the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board via Auckland Council ($10 million) and the Transport Agency ($18 million).

About 80 per cent of the fill for the headlands has been delivered to the Onehunga site. The availability of clean fill had been an issue, but this was alleviated by about 55,000cu m of material from the Alan Wood Reserve in Owairaka, where the southern approach for the Waterview tunnel has been excavated.

The foreshore will end up with about 368,000cu m of fill behind the bunds of soft rock.

It is due to be done by April.

Orpheus Drive remains open to pedestrians and cyclists.

(Sources: Herald, aucklandcouncil.govt.nz)

When travelling on the Northern Gateway toll road (Orewa to Puhoi), there is a high overbridge at Hillcrest Rd. But the bridge has no public access (at least from Orewa side). What's the bridge's purpose? Andrew Tennyson, North Shore.

The Hillcrest Rd Bridge (known as the Pukeko Bridge) was built to enable the owners to reconnect their land divided by the Northern Toll Rd. That connection was a condition of the toll road's construction.

Regarding a reader's question in Ask Phoebe last month: The mural in Beresford St is the work of Liam Hindley, a graphic artist based in Ponsonby.

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