12 August, 2025

Traffic snarls loom during water-main work

Vital replacement of 4.5km of water main to Devonport will cause major disruption in Takapuna, requiring digging up sections of Burns Ave and Esmonde Rd.
Watercare, which plans to start the work in early 2027, says roads along the planned route south from Takapuna will be reduced to one lane during the installation.
“We’re strongly conscious of how disruptive this will be,” said Watercare relationship manager Ben Halliwell.
The work to replace the Devonport No. 2 water main will be staged over 18 months. The existing 300mm pipe built in 1960, is in poor condition. Pipe of 450mm will be laid, designed to last a century.
At a workshop briefing last month, Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members were quick to warn Watercare of likely community outcry. “Your stop-go people may need to be there 24/7,” said board member George Wood, predicting that frustrated local drivers halted by traffic lights on one-lane stretches on Lake Rd and surrounding streets might ignore unmanned signals at quieter times.
Watercare would do what it could to minimise impacts, said its head of wastewater planning, Andrew Deutschle. Work would mostly likely be Monday to Friday, possibly into Saturdays, he said. “But we know traffic flow is worst at weekends.”
Works would continue at night on high-traffic Esmonde Rd and Lake Rd to speed progress. Work near schools would be scheduled during holidays where possible.
Deputy chair Terence Harpur questioned the intended route of the water main, saying: “The disruption is not going to fly in our community.”
The line begins in Takapuna, where it connects into the principal North Shore water main, and travels south from Killarney St, beneath Burns Ave and across Esmonde Rd to Hauraki. It then follows Eldon St and Harley Rd before a block on Lake Rd. It takes Hart Rd, turning down side streets to cross Jutland Rd and head down narrow and often congested Northboro Rd. From there it takes back routes before going up Bardia St to rejoin Lake Rd south to Devonport.
Harpur thought the pipe would be better routed from Esmonde Rd to Francis St, where works would be less disruptive. The crossing point could double as a bridging option between Takapuna and the peninsula, he suggested, combining a pipeline with a pedestrian and cycle bridge above.
Member Gavin Busch also liked the idea of using the quieter Francis St route “instead of running it right round”. He suggested Watercare could look at taking the main through O’Neill’s Point Cemetery to Bayswater.
Deutschle said a number of scenarios were considered before the route was presented. But staff would report back on members’ suggestions. A Francis St-Esmonde Rd link might face coastal consenting issues, he said.
Watercare was also constrained by the need to connect the water main into other services, especially along main road corridors.
Work would mostly be open-cut and cover, rather than drilling, due to the rigid nature of the water main, he said. Workers required access to enough width to work in – up to 7m – hence the need to use a lane of road.
“It’s not a pipe we can put under private property – we need to be able to get access to it and it has to tie in with existing infrastructure.”
Watercare first signalled the need to replace the main late last year. It will begin site investigations and preliminary design this year, and update the board in January 2026.
Member Peter Allen urged Watercare to return with a breakdown on when and for how long each stage section would take.
“I’d really like to see an alternative [route] and the costings around it,” said Busch.
The project has not yet been costed, but Wood tried to tie down a likely total by asking if it would be $100 million or $200m. Halliwell said “not quite” to the latter number.
Project consents will be lodged in April next year. Construction is set to start in January 2027 and finish in July 2028.

Please consider supporting The Rangitoto Observer by clicking here: