Media Release
12 February 2009

Major Manukau roading project opens

A major new direct route between Manukau’s eastern suburbs, East Tamaki and the airport opens tonight.

The $30 million Cavendish Link project saw Cavendish Drive, Liverpool Ave and Nesdale Ave widened and reconstructed to create a four lane arterial road. There are now also cycle lanes on both sides of the road.

The full length of the road is now called Cavendish Drive and a section of Roscommon Rd at the end of Cavendish is being re-named Noel Burnside Drive after the long-serving Papatoetoe councillor.

The project involved constructing a new railway bridge on the main trunk rail line and excavating under the bridge to allow the road to pass under it.

The extended Cavendish Drive links with Te Irirangi Drive, which is already four lanes, and the new Manukau State Highway 20 motorway extension. This will create a direct route from Howick, the eastern suburbs and East Tamaki to Auckland International Airport after completion of the new motorway interchange in 2010.

The combination of the Cavendish Drive extension and the State Highway 20 Manukau motorway extension should have a number of benefits for Manukau’s local roading network. This includes taking traffic off Puhinui Rd, which is mostly residential, and reduction of traffic delays on the existing railway bridge at the Bridge St dog leg in Papatoetoe.

Manukau Mayor Len Brown says the combination of the Cavendish Drive extension and SH20 motorway extension will deliver a number of benefits to Manukau.

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