Northwest water and roading upgrades

We’re trying hard to reduce the overall disruption caused by our work in the city's northwest and to avoid digging up the same area twice.

By combining transport and three waters work into one project, such as on Harewood Road, Matsons Avenue and Chapel Street, and combining water supply and wastewater projects, such as on Wairakei Road, we can get the work done in one go, rather than having to come back later.

We know road works cause disruption, not just for residents and businesses, but for everyone travelling to or through the area. We’ve coordinated this programme of work to make sure each project has viable detours in place to keep traffic flowing. Our contractors are working closely with businesses and services to make sure access is maintained for their customers and clients.

We’re replacing ageing wastewater pipes on Wairakei Road between Ilam Road and Grahams Road.

Some of these pipes date back to 1928, others to 1958, so they need to be replaced to meet the needs of communities in this part of the city’s northwest.

What we're doing

We’ll be installing a large-diameter trunk main to carry wastewater flows from the wider catchment, and a smaller, shallower collector main to collect wastewater from properties along Wairakei Road and carry it into the trunk main. We’re also installing a small section of water supply pipe on Greers Road at Wairakei Road, to connect to the new pipe on Greers Road.

The collector pipe we are replacing on Wairakei Road carries wastewater from the west side of Roydvale Avenue in Burnside along Wairakei Road to the Northern Relief pipe in St Albans Street.

Wastewater pipes are buried deep beneath the surface of the road, so we need to build deep trenches to reach them. Although the work can cause noise, vibrations and dust, the contractor will be working hard to reduce those impacts. In some areas we’ll be using sheet piling to make the trenches safe to work in.

We’ll be connecting into the new wastewater pipes installed at the Aorangi/Wairakei intersection as part of the Nor’West Arc cycleway project. Stage 1 will finish at about 165 Wairakei Road and stage 2 will start at 175 Wairakei Road, meaning we won’t be digging up the Aorangi/Wairakei intersection at all. The temporary traffic management setups may extend beyond these extents to keep traffic flowing safely around the work site.

When the work reaches the intersection of Wairakei and Greers roads, our contractor will be installing a small section of water pipe to connect with the newly laid pipe on Greers Road (south of Wairakei) – we deliberately finished just short of the intersection when replacing the water pipe earlier this year so the work could be combined with the wastewater project and we wouldn’t need to dig up the intersection twice.

We’re also looking at combining transport upgrades on Wairakei Road with the wastewater project, so we don’t have to come back to the area later to do that. We’ll update this page with more information about that in the coming weeks.

The project is part of a wider programme of water and roading upgrades in the northwest of the city.

Timing and traffic impacts

The project will be completed in stages, with the first stage starting on 24 August. These stages may briefly overlap while work progresses. Overall, the project is planned to be completed by mid-2028 – subject to favourable weather and construction conditions.

Stage 1: Ilam Road to 165 Wairakei Road, east of the intersection with Aorangi Road.  

Stage 2: 177 Wairakei Road to Greers Road.

Stage 3: Greers Road to Grahams Road. 

During stage one, Ilam Road to 165 Wairakei Road, this section of Wairakei Road will be reduced to one lane city-bound, with detours in place. Before excavation starts, pumps will be set up to remove excess groundwater from the trenches, called dewatering.

We’ve worked hard to minimise the impact of our work on Wairakei Road, but if you live, work or travel through the area, you should plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey.

Businesses will be open as usual, and there won’t be any excavation work within the Aorangi Road/Wairakei Road intersection, but there will be some changes to on-street parking to make room for the worksite while keeping traffic flowing.

Detours will be in place for west-bound services on Route 8 – affected bus stops will have temporary signage with directions to the nearest available stop, and MetroInfo(external link) will have the latest information on detours and temporary stop locations. 

Cyclists are encouraged to use alternative routes where possible to avoid disruptions. If you do need to travel through the work area, please be prepared to dismount and follow any instructions from on-site staff to help keep everyone moving safely.

We expect stage one to be completed by about April 2027. We’ll update this page regularly and will provide details about the other stages before they start.

The start works notice(external link) has more details.

You can also sign up for updates from our contractor, Dormer Construction: dormer.co.nz/wairakei(external link)

Our contractor is replacing the water supply pipes on Harewood Road between numbers 110 and 410, near the Breens/Gardiners Road intersection. 

Two-way traffic will be maintained on Harewood Road throughout the work, although we advise road users to expect delays and plan ahead. 

Our contractor is completing work on stages 2 and 3. At the same time, crews have been working in the side streets – Wilmot Street, Hoani Street and Ellery Street – to replace water main and sub-main pipes.

Work on stage 4, between Gardeners Road and Farrington Avenue, starts in September. Our contractor will be replacing the water main on the north side of the road and sub-main pipes on both sides of the road.

Traffic management on stage 2 and 3 will be reduced while work on stage 4 is underway, and will then be removed once the final cut-ins (the connections to individual properties) and reinstatement are completed.

During a portion of stage 4, the southern entrance to Cotswold Avenue will be closed. Temporary bus stops will be provided next to Cotswold Avenue. Please follow detour and bus stop signage.

Some night works will be required – residents in the area of the night works will be notified in advance.

See the start works notice(external link) for more details.

Work in La Perouse Place and a section of Sawyers Arms Road between Morrison Avenue and the intersection with Northcote and Greers Roads will take place later in the year. 

Visit the Nor'West Arc cycleway project page for details of this project starting in late May.

Nor'West Arc cycleway and wastewater upgrades

The map below shows the Northwest water and roading upgrades projects starting in 2026. We’ll update this with details on each project before it starts.

• Newsletter, 6 August 2026(external link)
• Newsletter, 7 July 2026(external link)
• Newsletter, 2 June 2026(external link)
• Newsletter, 11 May 2026(external link)
• Newsline, May 2026(external link)
• Newsletter, 21 April 2026(external link)
• Newsletter, 25 February 2026(external link) 
• Newsletter, 18 December 2025(external link) 
• Newsline, December 2025(external link)(external link)