Developments, developments, developments

Currently 'out west' there are two big developments occuring.
The first is the SH18 Hobsonville Deviation and SH16 Brigham Creek Extension.
The second is the development of Hobsonville Point.

For this post I am going to focus on the former and then look at Hobsonville Point in my next post . . . so here we go!

These two motorway extensions have been transforming the Hobsonville, Westgate and Whenuapai areas since September 2008, and it is getting pretty close to being done. You can now go stand on Trig Road and look down a motorway that does actually look like it will be completed on time (the completion date is September 2011). Below is a picture I took of the motorway about a month ago looking towards Greenhithe.

As outlined on the New Zealand Transport Agency website(http://www.nzta.govt.nz/network/projects/project.html?ID=40) this project is the last of three in the area aimed at providing better linkages between west and north Auckland.

One part of the developement which (I think) looks quite cool is the pedestrian and cyclist bridge on Clarks Lane. Ceramic tiles (made by local artists from local clay) have been paved along the bridge with each tile featuring an image of topographical maps and cycling lanes from the Hobsonville area.
(Photo taken by me!)

Another aspect of the bridge is the 'Sinton Windows' artwork. This piece of artwork includes some of the windows from the original Sinton house which was unable to relocated when motorway construction began. The photo below is one I took of the artwork

.

Ofcourse there are many pros and cons to the development and extension of the Auckland motorway system and this is something I plan on focusing on in future posts but I think for now we will leave it at a simple description of what is happening!