The East West Link project in Auckland will improve access in and out of the Onehunga-Penrose industrial area by creating improved connections to and from State Highway 1 and State Highway 20.
The proposed project includes deliverying:
- a new Galway Link between Neilson Street and Onehunga Harbour Road
- widening Onehunga Harbour Road to 3 lanes between Port Access and the new Galway Link intersection
- a signalised intersection at the intersection of Galway and Onehunga Mall
- upgrading the Neilson Street/Galway Link intersection to provide an additional left turn from Neilson Street
- new SH1 south facing on/off ramps and merge lanes on SH1
- widening Sylvia Park Road and upgrading its intersection at Great South Road
- a new four-lane East West Link from Neilson Street to Great South Road
- a new signalised intersection at Neilson Street/ Angle Street, and
- widening SH1 from Kotahi Road to Princes Street, including merge with north facing on/off ramps at Princess Street.
The project will be delivered in four stages.
PROJECT HISTORY
| Dec 2016 | Planning applications for this option were lodged to the Environmental Protection Authority to begin the Board of Inquiry (BOI) process. |
| Nov 2017 | The BOI handed down its draft decision, approving the planning applications for the project. |
| Nov 2017 | The newly elected NZ Government announced a NZ$1 billion reduction in scale of the project by adopting an alternate option to that proposed by the previous NZ Government. It is unclear what the claimed reduced scale of works will comprise. The circa NZ$1.85 billion option chosen by the previous NZ Government was based on the findings of the 2014 Indicative Business Case prepared by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and Auckland Transport Authority (ATA). |
| Jan 2018 | BOI issued its final decision confirming the designations and granting the resource consents for the East West Link project. |
| Mar 2021 | The New Zealand Supreme Court dismissed two appeals against the East West Link, upholding the Board of Inquiry's decision to award the Resource Management Act approvals for the project. The project continues to be re-evaluated against the Government Policy Statement on land transport, which was updated in 2020. Should the re-evaluation outcomes be met, and no further appeals are brought against the project, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will reassess the designation and scope of consents currently granted before moving forward with the project. |
| Jul 2023 | The National Party releases their plan to reintroduce the 'Roads of National Significance' program as part of election commitments for the forthcoming NZ election. East West Link is included. |
| Mar 2024 | The New Zealand Government released its draft Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024-34 for public consultation, which includes the development of the East West Link as a Road of National Significance. |
| Apr 2024 | The NZ Supreme Court allowed an appeal lodged by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand seeking further consideration of the environmental impacts of the project. The Society submitted that the project would have negative impacts on flora and birds, meaning it breaches national policies which direct the avoidance of harm to indigenous biodiversity. The proposal must now go back to the Board of Inquiry for reconsideration, with progress on the project paused pending the outcome of this process. |
| Apr 2024 | The Supreme Court ruled that project should be revised due ti its impact on indigenous biodiversity. |
| May 2024 | The New Zealand 2024-25 Budget allocated NZ$1 billion in contingency to accelerate the delivery of priority projects as part of the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS), which includes the Roads of National Significance Programme. Additionally, NZ$2 billion was apportioned to ‘give effect to and provide funding for decisions taken through the draft GPS on Land Transport 2024’. The Budget did not provide details on the amount of funding this project would receive. |
| Jun 2024 | The New Zealand Government released its final Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024-34, which affirms the development of the East West Link as a Road of National Significance. |
| Aug 2025 | NZTA released its new investment case for the project. The investment case outlines a new indicative timeline, an investment envelope of between NZ$3.7 billion to $4.1 billion, and a revised scope split into four stages. |
Sector
Road
Procurement approach
Unconfirmed |
Location
New Zealand |
Resources
Government resources
East West Link EPA ApplicationEPA Board of Inquiry Draft Report and Decision - November 2017
The Auckland Plan
2014 Indicative Business Case
2025 Updated Investment Case
