The Esmonde Road Interchange

The Esmonde Road Interchange has the busiest citybound on-ramp on the North Shore. Along with the Onewa Road Interchange it handles 50% of the traffic that travels over the bridge in the morning. When the interchange was constructed it was the last interchange before the Northern Motorway ended at Northcote Road. So only two motorway connections were made. Along with the one way Akoranga Drive to Esmonde Road connection. However, with the project addressing other issues and improving capacity the citybound on-ramp problem has not been addressed, for more on the problem see Esmonde's Problem.

History of the Esmonde Road Interchange

The Esmonde Road Interchange was constructed during the Auckland Harbour Bridge era, the Northern Motorway extended from the northern end of the Harbour Bridge to where the Northcote Road Interchange is now.

Because this was the last full interchange on the newly completed motorway all connections were not completed. All that was constructed was south facing connections; one citybound/southbound on-ramp, a northbound off-ramp and a one way eastbound Akoranga to Esmonde road connection.

Plans since the mid 1990s have been in place to upgrade the Esmonde Road Interchange, and that the Northern Busway is under construction integration and upgrading of the Esmonde Road Interchange fast tracked the project. The project is now complete and the upgraded interchange officially opened on the 16th of May 2007.

Why did it Need to be Upgraded?

There are several reasons why the Esmonde Road Interchange needed to be upgraded. The existing Akoranga Drive to Esmonde Road link was not to a motorway standard and needed to be realigned. The Akoranga link was also unable to handle the growing traffic volumes especially at peak times when traffic would be backed up to the Warehouse Way 300m west.

The Esmonde Road Interchange needed to link in with the under construction Northern Busway, which means that more access will be given to the Akoranga Busway Station from Esmonde Road and Akoranga Drive.

Esmonde Road and its interchange handles considerable amounts of traffic which amounts to 25% of Northern Motorway traffic (AADT). This makes the Esmonde Road on-ramp the busiest on the Northern Motorway.

The existing Esmonde Road Interchange also did not provide an off-ramp of on-ramp for traffic that is north of the interchange, meaning you had to use the Northcote Interchange for those connections.

For more on why the Interchange does not address a major problem regarding the Citybound on-ramp, click here.

The Esmonde Road Interchange

$44m Completed: May 16th 2007

The new interchange offers three new motorway connections, a connection to Akoranga Drive, two new roads and incorporates the Busway.

The above map shows the Esmonde Road Interchange with realigned links for the existing Northbound off-ramp, realigned Akoranga Drive connection, realigned Southbound/Citybound on-ramp, realigned Barry's Point Road, and realigned Esmonde Road.

New connections are Akoranga Drive connection (westbound), Akoranga Drive to Busway link road, Fred Thomas Drive Extension, Northbound on-ramp, Southbound off-ramp and Busway station and link to Esmonde.

See why the Citybound on-ramp has not been addressed here.

Esmonde Road to Northcote Road Auxiliary Lane

A short lane from the Esmonde Road Interchange to the Northcote Road Interchange has been created. It will only be in one direction which is northbound, providing an auxiliary lane for easy merging. Another reason for this lane is the Esmonde Road dual northbound on-ramps and a tight merge space.

Related: Northcote to Sunnynook Auxiliary Lane

Images

Under Construction Images
Complete Images

Comments

From: Wayne D | I am wondering whether the Esmonde Road interchange development will have any effect in reducing the bottleneck of city-bound traffic in the mornings. The road layout seems to only include a single lane on-ramp, which means there will be no benefit for southbound traffic. Is that the plan for the final layout? Furthermore, the fact that northbound motorway traffic will be able to access the motorway from Esmonde Road would seem to only increase the amount of traffic down Esmonde Road with the net result of the work being even longer travel times. I might add that I would prefer to take public transport and thus reduce pressures on the roads, but given that it takes even longer to get from Bayswater to Mt Albert by public transport, and costs about $12 per day, I am forced back onto the road!

Answer: The current Esmonde Road interchange upgrade focuses mainly on the integration with the busway and completing the Esmonde Road interchange to what it should be. Most of the changes to the interchange will cause freer flowing traffic on the Northern Motorway, not necessarily on the interchange itself. With the adding of links that previously were not there traffic volume will be increased, but it will be managed, one of the main things that will not be addressed is what you mentioned and that is the Southbound on-ramp, especially during the morning peak, Transit has chosen not to address this, and one would feel that its a deterrent to using private transport.

See More on why the Esmonde Road Interchange is a Problem Here