New Zealand’s Auckland Airport has completed NZ$160m (US$109) of improvements to its road network.
The North Island airport has upgraded its core road network, widening and creating new roads, adding high-occupancy vehicle lanes, and improving pedestrian and cycle paths. Low footfall over the past 20 months provided the airport with a window of opportunity to complete the major project with less inconvenience to road users.
According to André Lovatt, general manager infrastructure at Auckland Airport, one of the biggest changes people will notice is a new road taking traffic away from the international terminal. Travellers will now exit the terminal via a one-way loop system aimed at moving traffic – including public transport connections – past the international terminal before reconnecting into George Bolt Memorial Drive, the airport’s roading gateway from the north.
“Measuring around 800m in length, the terminal exit road will deliver big gains when passenger numbers return in force by allowing traffic flows in and out of the terminals to work efficiently,” explained Lovatt.
“Our road network at the airport is about 40km in total and whether it’s travellers catching a flight or cargo operators transporting goods, everyone using the roads at Auckland Airport is on a deadline and we need to make sure our network is robust, now and into the future.”
Auckland advanced several other infrastructure projects during the pandemic, including its three-year programme of work renewing pavements on the airfield, renewal of the airfield fuel pipeline network, and preparatory work towards a multi-storey transport hub and future integrated terminal development.
