Providing safer shared path facilities for walkers and cyclers.
Northcote Safe Cycle Route
Client: Auckland Transport
- 6 precast piers
- 88,000 m of wire form the feature artwork
- 83,823 cars travelling along Northcote Road each day
- 3 tonnes structural steel beams for Busway bridge extension
Project Background
The $10m+ Auckland Transport safety remediation project takes place in the densely suburban area between Hillcrest and Takapuna.
Crossing SH1 Northern Motorway, the new route provides shared path facilities along Northcote Road, a bustling 4-way motorway intersection.
Project Overview
Walking across Northcote Road Bridges,
it is easy to see why this was a vital infrastructure upgrade.
A 3.3 metre-wide, separated shared path constructed on either side of the overbridge provides a safer route for kids to get to school, encouraging more people to walk and cycle and accommodating future growth.
With two schools, Smales Farm Business Hub and Smales Farm Bus Station, Takapuna Golf Course, The Barfoot and Thompson Netball Centre, North Shore Hospital, and numerous sporting facilities and hospitality outlets within proximity to the intersection, safety changes and network upgrades at this intersection were inevitable.
The two bridges will complete the larger 5.2km Northcote Safe Cycle Route, which begins at Smales Farm and runs along Northcote Road, Lake Road, Onewa Road, Queen Street and ends at Northcote Ferry Terminal.
Traffic Management
Safety has been at the forefront with extensive consideration and planning required for traffic management. Though nightshifts have been essential due to the constraints of working within and over the live Motorway and Busway, due to Auckland System Management (ASM) regulations there is very limited window of available working time for nightshifts.
Often the team had only a few hours to set out temporary traffic closures, mobilise/erect cranes and support vehicles, deliver and install pre-cast elements, then dismantle cranes, demobilise support vehicles and clear temporary traffic closures to ensure opening motorway to public traffic by 5.00am.
The six-point intersection has made for awkward and complex traffic management, with a considerable portion of the road corridor restricted to vehicles for the safety of workers undertaking works on the bridges.
Despite constraints, the DW Traffic team have worked collaboratively with ASM and Auckland Transport, implementing effective traffic management strategies on a combination of Level 2 and 3 roads.
The project was delivered safely, without significant incident and in line with Dempsey Wood’s self-regulating environmental and sustainability goals.
Auckland Transport
Dave Jiggins, Road Development Manager
Outcomes
Forming collaborative relationships with Auckland Transport, BECA, construction partners, subcontractors and stakeholders, and proactive thinking solutions has allowed us to provide the client with cost savings and minimal disruption to the motorway.
Innovative solutions have been at the core of this project, with the team driven to think outside the box. Everything the team has done has had to be highly thought out. The team came up with multiple different plans for the same activity and determining which one is the most appropriate – fitting the budget, time, interfaces, constraints, and meeting safety requirements.
Admitting that this is one of the most challenging projects he, and most of his guys, have ever done, Jason is incredibly proud of the finished project.
The formal opening of Northcote Bridge will allow our team the opportunity to reflect on what has been an extremely challenging but rewarding project over the past 18 months.
