Te Ararata Creek Flood Resilience Project

About the project

This project is part of our Making Space for Water programme. It aims to:

• make the stormwater network more resilient to future storm events

• increase the capacity of the stormwater network

• allow stormwater to flow more freely into the Manukau Harbour.

This will:

• reduce potential flood levels for over 250 properties in the area, including:

  • 38 properties that had intolerable risk to life flooding in 2023

  • over 100 properties that experienced floor-level flooding in 2023

• reduce flood risks caused by blockages for up to 1000 properties

• improve access to Te Ararata Creek to make it quicker and easier to maintain, such as by clearing rubbish and fixing eroded banks.  

Concept design for Walmsley Road Bridge between Hall Avenue and McKenzie Road.

How we will do this

To reduce flooding risks in the area, we will:

• replace and widen the Walmsley Road Bridge between Hall Avenue and McKenzie Road to increase waterflow beneath it

• build a debris trap upstream of the bridge between McKenzie Road and Molesworth Place to stop large rubbish blocking the creek

• plant native shrubs and grasses along the edge of the creek to help stabilise the banks

• build a permanent maintenance platform and an accessway to the culverts on Mahunga Drive. This will make it easier for our maintenance teams to keep the culverts clean and free from blockages.

While this project will not completely prevent flooding, investing now will reduce risks by:

• providing more protection against future floods

• better-prepare us for heavy rain events.

Map of the project area

Te Ararata Creek Flood Resilience Project area.

How the work will affect you

Traffic management and diversions

We will close Walmsley Road to road traffic between Hall Avenue and McKenzie Road in August 2025 for up to eight months. This will allow us to finish works as soon as possible.

While this part of Walmsley Road is closed, we will divert traffic via:

• Bader Drive

• Elmdon Street

• Hall Avenue

• Rimu Road

• Massey Road

• Mahunga Drive

• Kirkbride Road

• Savill Drive

• McKenzie Road.

Diversions for all vehicles

All vehicles travelling on Walmsley Road to the Southern Highway SH20 northbound on-ramp and to and from Māngere Bridge will be diverted to Mahunga Drive and Rimu Road.

SH20 off- and on-ramps will stay open.

Diversions for light vehicles

Light vehicles travelling on Walmsley Road to and from McKenzie Road, Miller Road and Coronation Road will be diverted through:

• Hall Avenue

• Elmdon Street

• Bader Drive.

Diversions for heavy vehicles

Heavy vehicles travelling on Walmsley Road to and from McKenzie Road, Miller Road and Coronation Road will be diverted through:

• McKenzie Road

• Kirkbride Road

• Massey Road

• Savill Drive.

Traffic management

We will install temporary traffic management measures on Hall Avenue, Eldon Street and Bader Drive to keep traffic moving safely. These include:

• traffic lights

• speed bumps

• roundabouts

• no on-road parking

• reduced speeds

• a temporary bridge for pedestrians and cyclists along Walmsey Road.

We will remove the temporary diversions and traffic management measures when we finish construction.

Traffic diversion map

Affected bus services

• We will reroute bus services 309 and 309X.

• The rerouted buses will not serve the bus stops on either side of Walmsley Road by Hall Avenue, the Māngere Samoan Church and the Mobil gas station. The affected bus stops are:
  • 6948
  • 6611
  • 6613
  • 6614
  • 6615
  • 6616.

All bus stops will remain in use for school bus services.

Visit the Auckland Transport (AT) app to check for:

• bus stop closures

• rerouted bus services

• alternative bus stops.

Temporary bus routes and affected roads and bus stops.

Walmsley Road and Mahunga Drive work sites

• Construction will usually take place between 7.30am and 6pm every Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays for emergency works only.

• During work hours, noise, dust and vibrations might affect neighbouring properties. We will monitor this to make sure we keep disruptions within required limits.

• If we need access to private property, we will contact you beforehand.

Te Ararata Creek Reserve, Black Bridge Reserve and Mahunga Reserve

We will restrict access to sections of these reserves while construction is taking place.

Other options

We looked at other ways to replace the Walmsley Road Bridge without closing that section of the road, such as:

• closing part of the bridge for up to two years

• building a temporary bridge for traffic.

However, these options would:

• cost more

• cause more disruption

• risk us losing funding.

What happens next

• April 2025: work starts.

• August 2025 to February 2026: Walmsley Road closes.

• Late February 2026: Walmsley Road reopens.

• Mid-2026: work ends.

More information

Email bluegreen@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz for more information about this project.