CMI Transit

The early motorways of Auckland
The Auckland motorway junction developed from the middle of the 20th century as the city's population increased. Major arterial roads, the Great South and Great North Roads, were the main entry and exit from Auckland, but by the 1940s these were unable to cope with the rapid increase in traffic.

The Ministry of Works began the development of Auckland's motorways with the first 3.2 km section, between Ellerslie and Mt Wellington, opening in 1953. The opening of a 7.8 km length of the Northwestern motorway followed this, from Great North Road to Lincoln Bridge in 1955. Later that year a further 9.4 km extension of the Southern Motorway, from Mt Wellington to Wiri, was constructed.

The first part of the Central Motorway Junction to be constructed was a two-way Wellesley Street connection through to Grafton Gully (now a one way exit) in 1989. The Symonds Street on ramp was opened in 1971, followed by a southbound on-ramp at Hobson Street in 1973. The reverse exit to the city at Nelson Street opened in May 1977.

click on the image above for a larger view

The first road connection across the Waitemata Harbour, between Auckland and the North Shore, was achieved in 1959 with the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. From here the Northern Motorway that replaced the western road links to Northland was built.
Collectively, this represented the beginning of an extensive motorway network for greater Auckland.

Central Motorway Junction
The Central Motorway Junction was designed in the 1960's and almost all the links present today were constructed in the 1970s, with the most recent link added as recently as 1989. However, the junction has never been totally completed.

A 1 kilometre long link between the Northern and the Southern motorways was completed in 1978, at the same time as the on ramp from Grafton Gully to the Southern Motorway. This was followed by the Hobson Street link to the Northwestern Motorway in 1979. Access from the Northwestern Motorway to Grafton Gully was provided in 1988 while the link from the Northwestern to the Southern Motorway was completed in 1989.

click on the images above for a larger view

De Leuw Cather and the Master Plan
The first 'big picture' plan was developed in 1955 by the Auckland Regional Planning Authority. Ten years later a report was prepared by American consultants De Leuw Cather who recommended a programme of continuing motorway construction and the upgrade of important arterial routes.

Click here>> to see the De Leuw Cather's map showing staged developments to Auckland's state highway network.