MEDIA RELEASE

30 March 2011

NZ Transport Agency – Auckland Regional Office

Safety work requires overnight closure of Walmsley Road on ramp

The Walmsley Road on-ramp at Mangere Bridge in south Auckland and a small southbound section of the Southwestern Motorway [SH20] will be closed this Saturday night [2 April] for necessary work associated with the NZ Transport Agency’s safety improvements to the on-ramp.

Motorway access to and from Auckland International Airport will not be affected by the closure.

The closure will start at 4pm on Saturday and will end at 10am on Sunday, 3 April. It affects the on-ramp and an adjoining 800 metre-long section of the left hand southbound lane of the Southwestern Motorway. The right hand southbound lane and all northbound lanes of the motorway will remain open. NZTA says the closure is necessary to enable its contractors to pour concrete without any vibration from traffic on that section of motorway.

‘The closure has been timed to coincide with the end of daylight saving when the clocks go back one hour on Saturday night - effectively giving our contractors an extra hour of work to complete the job,” says the NZTA’s State Highways Manager for Auckland, Tommy Parker.

Traffic wanting to use the Walmsley Road on-ramp will be diverted along McKenzie and Kirkbride Roads to the airport and other destinations.

The length of the Walmsley Road on ramp is being extended as a safety measure to prevent traffic that uses it from making potentially dangerous manoeuvres across a busy motorway to reach the lanes for the airport. The improvements are due to be completed in late June.
ENDS

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