The Northwestern Motorway (also known historically as the Auckland–Kumeu Motorway), part of (SH 16), is the major western route and secondary northern route out of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in New Zealand. Twenty-one kilometres in length, the motorway runs from Stanley St in Parnell through the

Central Motorway Junction The Central Motorway Junction or CMJ (best known as Spaghetti Junction and rarely as Central Motorway Intersection), is the intersection of State Highways 1 and 16, just south of the central business district of Auckland. A multilevel structu ...

, and west through

Central Auckland The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland, including the CBD. The isthmus ...

and West Auckland before continuing northwest and terminating outside of

Kumeū Kumeū is an affluent rural town and suburb of Auckland situated 25 km north-west of the City Centre in New Zealand. State Highway 16 and the North Auckland Line pass through the town. Huapai lies to the west, Riverhead to the north, When ...

. Its western terminus is at Brigham Creek Road in

Whenuapai Whenuapai is a suburb and aerodrome located in northwestern Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the northwestern shore of the Waitematā Harbour, 15 kilometres to the northwest of Auckland's city centre. It is one of th ...

. A large part of it forms the middle section of the

Western Ring Route The Western Ring Route is a motorway system being constructed in Auckland, New Zealand. It currently runs along (from south to north) the entire Southwestern Motorway (State Highway 20), most of the Northwestern Motorway (part of SH 16), the ...

History

The first section of the Northwestern Motorway, from Waterview to

Te Atatū Te Atatū (from the Māori : "the dawn") is the name of two adjacent suburbs in West Auckland, New Zealand: ''Te Atatū Peninsula'' and ''Te Atatū South''. They are located next to each other some 10 kilometres to the west of the Auckland city ...

, was finished in 1952.About the City – The History
(from the

Waitakere City Council Waitākere City was a territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitākere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%. In 2010 the council was a ...

website. Accessed 1 December 2009.)Greater Auckland webpage "The Birth of the North-Western Motorway"
accessed on 19-Jun-2018 The section between Waterview and Rosebank peninsula is known as "The Causeway".NZ Transport Agency webpage "SH16 Causeway Upgrade"
accessed on 19-Jun-2018 The next section opened for traffic in 1955, then offering a two-laned 7.8 km section from Great North Road (current Exit 8) to Lincoln Road (current Exit 16). The section involved bridges over inlets of the

Waitematā Harbour Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...

, which cut the journey between central Auckland and its airport at

by 8 km. This section was later upgraded to four lanes. In 1957, the motorway was extended westwards by one km to Lincoln Park Avenue, between the current Lincoln Road and Royal Road interchanges. In 1961, it was extended again by 2.7 km to Hobsonville Road at what is now Westgate. Traffic could now travel 11.5 km on the Northwestern Motorway, and the journey between Auckland and Whenuapai was cut by a total of 9 km compared with local roads. In 1966, the current

Auckland International Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and List of the busiest airports in New Zealand, busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airp ...

opened at Mangere, and Whenuapai reverted to a military airport. This affected the use of the motorway, delaying further extensions. Motorway construction recommenced in the late 1970s, to connect the Northwestern Motorway at Waterview to the

Auckland city centre The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's le ...

, bypassing Great North Road. The first section to open was in 1979, stretching 2.4 km from Newton Road (Exit 5) to Western Springs, at the current site of the eastbound on/off-ramps for St Lukes Road (Exit 6). At the same time, ramps opened as part of the

from Newton Road to Nelson Street and

Hobson Street __NOTOC__ Hobson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Hobson (surname) * Hobson R. Reynolds (1898–1991), American politician and judge Places New Zealand * Hobson County, New Zealand, a former local authority * Mount Hobson (Au ...

(now Exit 4B), connecting the Northwestern Motorway to the city centre. Traffic could access the Southern and Northern Motorways indirectly from the Nelson Street and Hobson Street intersections. In 1981, the 2.4 km section between Great North Road at Waterview and Motions Road near Western Springs opened, leaving a small 1 km gap where traffic had to use Great North Road. This gap was filled in 1983 when the St Lukes Road interchange was completed. In 1988, ramps were installed at the Central Motorway Junction to allow direct access between the Southern Motorway and the Northwestern Motorway. The following year, ramps opened between

Grafton Gully Grafton Gully is a deep (about 50 m) and very wide (about 100 m) gully running northwards towards the sea through the volcanic hills of the Auckland volcanic field in New Zealand. It divides the CBD from the suburbs of Grafton and Parnell in ...

and the Northwestern Motorway, allowing motorway traffic direct access to the eastern city centre and the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

. In 2006, two new ramps were installed to directly connect the Northwestern Motorway and the Northern Motorway.Auckland Motorways – New Zealand Transport Agency
On 7 August 2011 a 3 kilometre, 4-lane extension of the Northwestern Motorway opened from Hobsonville Road to Brigham Creek Road in

, along with a 6 kilometre, 4-lane extension of motorway from the end of the Northwestern Motorway at Hobsonville Road to the western end of Upper Harbour Bridge in Hobsonville. From 2012 to 2016 extra lanes were added between St Lukes and Westgate in preparation for the opening, on 2 July 2017, of the

Waterview Connection The Waterview Connection is a motorway section through west/central Auckland, New Zealand. It connects State Highway 20 in the south at Mt Roskill to State Highway 16 in the west at Point Chevalier, and is a part of the Western Ring Route. ...

. File:NW Looking West from Newton.JPG, Looking west along the Northwestern Motorway between

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

Road and Bond Street. File:NW Looking East Towards CMJ.JPG, Looking east towards the

Interchanges

References

{{New Zealand motorway list Motorways in New Zealand Transport in Auckland

History

Interchanges

See also

References