Rubber meets road as Penlink work begins

The first sod has been turned, and this month, work began on the O Mahurangi (Penlink) project which has been on the drawing board for the best part of 40 years. 

The 7km, two-lane road, which extends from Stanmore Bay on Whangaparāoa Peninsula, across a bridge to be built across the Weiti River, continuing to SH1, will provide an alternative route off the peninsula, easing traffic congestion that has built up with ever increasing development and large numbers of commuters.

It includes a significant new intersection to be built in the vicinity of New World Whangaparāoa, where O Mahurangi joins Whangaparāoa Road.

The sod-turning ceremony at Ara Weiti Road on December 10 marked the official start of construction. However, the actual works began on January 9, including clearing ground, establishing access tracks and site offices, building temporary erosion and sediment controls and early earthworks.

Between January 9 and March, there will be work at a site on Duck Creek Road in Stillwater, vegetation clearance on East Coast Road and on Ara Weiti Road.

At the Whangaparāoa Peninsula end, tree clearance along the route from the Weiti River up to Whangaparāoa Road is expected to begin in March. A Waka Kotahi spokesperson says more information will be provided closer to the time, but most of this work (the tree clearance on the Whangaparāoa side) will not be visible to the public.

A decision on whether or not the road will be tolled is expected from central government by April.

The massive project is part of the government’s NZ Upgrade $8.7 billion programme – $830 million has been earmarked for O Mahurangi’s delivery. 

The build will begin from the SH1 end, then move into Stillwater, the bridge over the Weiti River and the Whangaparāoa Peninsula side last.

Bulk earthworks are not expected to commence until October of this year and completion is estimated to be in December 2026.

History of Penlink: At the sod turning last month, Cr John Watson outlined key aspects of the history of the project in his capacity as chair of Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee. Here is an excerpt: “This is an auspicious occasion for people on the Hibiscus Coast have waited for the best part of 40 years since such a project was first advanced across the council chamber of the Rodney County Council in 1984. Since that time I doubt if there has been a more politicised transport project in NZ. However, the history of the crossing of what was then called the Wade River, goes back long before this era. In the 1920s it was Mr Percy from Stillwater who, for a small charge, would row Whangaparāoa settlers across the Weiti River when embarking on their 4-5 hike hour down the coast to ‘town’ – which was Browns Bay in those days. If you were lucky, Mr Percy would cook you a steak on the return trip for he was always eager to catch up on all the news from the ‘big smoke’. During World War II, American troops were stationed on Whangaparāoa. At the very end of the peninsula a massive coastal defence facility was being constructed by Downer and the Public Works Department in preparation for a Japanese invasion (including a maze of tunnels and gun emplacements still there today). It was said that if the Americans had stayed another six months they were planning to build a bridge themselves – but they didn’t and it wasn’t. By 1984 a roading report before the Rodney County Council put the cost of providing a bridge and fixing the entire roading network on Whangaparāoa itself at $62m. For the next 40 years there were a lot of plans and talk but not a lot of building (and probably the expenditure of a reasonable chunk of that $62m along the way)! By 2022, a century on since Mr Percy and his dinghy, work has started on the latest version of Penlink. When it is complete, the Hibiscus Coast with Penlink connecting directly to the expanded Northern Motorway and Northern Busway, the associated bus terminal and park and ride, combined with a fully functional ferry service from Gulf Harbour, will provide one of the best connected transport networks in the region.”