Hon Simon Bridges

Minister of Transport
13 October 2016 Media Statement

$85m St Lukes Interchange project complete

Prime Minister John Key and Transport Minister Simon Bridges have officially opened the new St Lukes to Great North Road Interchange, another step to improve congestion on Auckland’s Northwestern Motorway.

The section of State Highway 16 has been widened from three lanes to four in each direction, with upgrades to on and off ramps and the St Lukes Road overbridge. The Northwestern Cycleway has also been widened and resurfaced.

“This is an important project for Auckland and forms part of a bigger regional picture to improve roading infrastructure in and around the city,” Mr Bridges says.

The upgrade creates greater capacity on the city side of the Waterview Connection for traffic on State Highway 16 as well as for the traffic that will be using the motorway via the Waterview Tunnel when it opens next year.

“Building this infrastructure now means we’re able to support future growth and development in Auckland’s western areas to improve travel time reliability and create better freight access,” Mr Bridges says.

The St Lukes Interchange is one of seven projects that will form the Western Ring Route, one of the Government’s Roads of National Significance.

“It’s a crucial building block which will provide people and freight with an additional route around Auckland, creating more connections in the transport network, supporting growth and ensuring greater reliability,” Mr Bridges says.

“The $2.4 billion Western Ring Route has been sixty years in the making and will be one of the biggest infrastructure projects New Zealand has ever seen.”

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