Upgrade closes Northern Gateway road tunnels overnight

Motorists are being advised to allow extra travel time for their journey between Auckland and Puhoi/Warkworth later this month with the closure of the Northern Gateway’s Johnstones Hill road tunnels for a major systems upgrade.

Both tunnels will be closed overnight on Wednesday 25 February from 8pm to 4am, with motorists detoured 15km along State Highway 17 between Puhoi and the Silverdale interchange. The detour will add about 15 minutes to journey times and the NZ Transport Agency apologies for any inconvenience for motorists, says the Agency’s Auckland and Northland Highway Manager Brett Gliddon.

Single tunnel closures will also occur next week for scheduled annual maintenance and cleaning. From Monday 9 February to Thursday 12 February, there will be alternating tunnel closures throughout the four days; one tunnel remaining open at all times with a contra traffic flow.

All the closures are weather dependent; the wet weather alternative for the closure of both tunnels later this month being Thursday 26 February.

The twin Johnstones Hill Tunnels are on State Highway 1 and part of the toll road connecting Auckland (Silverdale) through to Puhoi/Warkworth.

Mr Gliddon says the upgrade later this month will replace the tunnels’ original ‘backroom’ management system with an expanded and later version of the Agency’s Automated Traffic Management System (ATMS) which manages traffic and monitors safety systems for the motorway network.

“The key objective for expanding the traffic ATMS system up to the tunnels is to provide information to traffic management operators more quickly and efficiently, which in turn assists with traffic flows and provides valuable information to the public, along with improved safety and convenience.”

Information services include radio bulletins, social media, variable message boards, journey time indicators and onramp controls.

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