Great South Road, New Zealand
 These days, long parts of Great South Road's length are urban or suburban | |||
| Length | 42.9 km (26.7 mi) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Auckland, New Zealand | ||
| North end | Broadway/Manukau Road | ||
| South end | Mill Road | ||
The Great South Road was the northern section of the earliest highway between Auckland and Wellington, in the North Island of New Zealand.
History[]
Construction of the Great South Road began in 1861 during the New Zealand Wars under the orders of Governor Grey to improve supply lines through swampy and thickly forested country.[1] The road was constructed by British Army troops, including Dominic Jacotin Gamble, and provided a flow of supplies for the Waikato campaign.[2] Queen's Redoubt at Pōkeno was a major base of operations for soldiers working on constructing the road.[3] Approximately 12,000 soldiers were involved in the construction over two years. After the wars, more peaceful uses predominated, and the road became the main social and commercial link to the growing agricultural areas south of Auckland.[4]
Much of the road between Newmarket and Drury is laid in concrete, up to 1 foot thick but is now covered with asphalt. Originally, the road was marked by milestones, but these are now all believed lost, although there is a ‘22 mile’ milestone marker outside Drury School, in Drury.[4] The Auckland Southern Motorway has largely superseded Great South Road as a through route, but many parts of the road are still in use, particularly the urban sections.
Route[]
The road begins[5] in the central Auckland suburb of Epsom, then passes through the suburbs of Greenlane, Penrose, Otahuhu, Papatoetoe, Manukau, Manurewa and Papakura. Leaving the urban sprawl, it heads south through Drury before terminating at Mill Road in Bombay and merging with the Waikato Expressway.[6]
Historically it continued, over the Bombay Hills, and followed the east bank of the Waikato River until crossing it at Ngāruawāhia. A section of State Highway 3 through Ōhaupō retains the road's southernmost extension.[7]
Major intersections[]
| Local Board | Suburb | km | jct | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert-Eden | Epsom | 0.0 |  |
Manukau Road – Royal Oak, Onehunga Alpers Avenue – City Centre Broadway – Newmarket St Marks Road |
|
| 1.1 | |
Market Road (east) – Remuera Market Road (west) – Mount Eden |
|||
| Greenlane | 2.3 | |
Green Lane East – Remuera Green Lane West – Western Springs |
||
| 2.7 | |
Woodbine Avenue | |||
| 2.8 | |
Campbell Road – Royal Oak | |||
| Maungakiekie-Tamaki | Ellerslie | ||||
| 2.9 | |
Main Highway – Ellerslie | |||
| 3.6 | |
Rockfield Road | |||
| 3.9 | |
Central Park business park | |||
| Penrose | 4.1 |  |
Ellerslie Panmure Highway – Ellerslie | ||
| 4.8 | |
Station Road East – Penrose | |||
| 5.5 | |
Penrose Road – Mount Wellington | |||
| 6.4 | |
South Eastern Highway – Mount Wellington, Pakuranga Church Street – Onehunga, Royal Oak |
|||
| 6.6 | |
Church Street East | |||
| 7.1 | |
Southdown Lane | |||
| Mount Wellington | 7.5 | |
Sylvia Park Road – Mount Wellington | ||
| 7.9 | |
Vestey Drive | |||
| 8.8 | |
Portage Road (east) – Mount Wellington Portage Road (west) – Mangere, Manukau City |
|||
| Mangere-Otahuhu | Otahuhu | ||||
| 9.4 | |
Albion Road Huia Road |
|||
| 9.5 | |
Princes Street | |||
| 9.8 | |
Avenue Road Mason Avenue |
|||
| 10.1 | |
Atkinson Avenue High Street |
|||
| 10.8 | |
Mangere Road – Mangere, Middlemore Hospital, Airport | |||
| Otara-Papatoetoe | Papatoetoe | 11.8 | |
Bairds Road – Otara, MIT | |
| 13.0 | |
Shirley Road | |||
| 13.2 | |
East Tamaki Road – Otara, East Tamaki | |||
| 13.3 | |
Kolmar Road | |||
| 13.5 | |
Sutton Crescent | |||
| 13.9 | |
Tui Road St George Street |
|||
| Manukau | 15.4 | |
Reagan Road Puhinui Road – Airport |
||
| 15.9 | |
Ryan Place | |||
| 16.1 | |
Te Irirangi Drive – Howick Cavendish Drive – Airport |
|||
| 16.2 | |
Southpoint retail park | |||
| 16.4 | |
Ronwood Avenue | |||
| 16.8 | |
Redoubt Road Manukau Station Road – Manukau City Centre |
Former SH 20 | ||
| 17.0 | |
Lakewood Court | |||
| Manurewa | Wiri | 17.2 | |
 from  SH 1 (Southern Motorway) |
|
| 18.0 | |
Kerrs Road | |||
| Manurewa | 18.8 | |
Orams Road – Totara Heights Browns Road – Homai |
||
| 20.2 | |
Hill Road | |||
| 20.3 | |
Station Road | |||
| 20.6 | |
Alfriston Road – Alfriston, Clevedon Weymouth Road – Clendon, Homai |
|||
| 21.8 | |
Mahia Road – Wattle Downs, Clendon | |||
| Papakura | Takanini | 22.3 | |
SH 1 north (Southern Motorway) – Auckland |
|
| 22.6 | |
SH 1 south (Southern Motorway) – Hamilton |
|||
| 23.0 | |
Manuroa Road Beaumaris Way |
|||
| 23.5 | |
Taka Street Walter Strevens Drive |
|||
| 24.2 | |
Glenora Road | |||
| 24.3 | |
The Furlong | |||
| 24.7 | |
Walters Road Inlet Road Longford Park Drive |
|||
| 25.1 | |
Waka Street | |||
| Papakura | 26.1 | |
Subway Road | ||
| 26.3 | |
O'Shannessey Street | |||
| 26.4 | |
Queen Street | |||
| 26.5 | |
Broadway Elliot Street |
|||
| 26.9 | |
Wood Street | |||
| 27.1 | |
Wellington Street | |||
| Opaheke | 27.7 | |
Settlement Road Beach Road |
||
| Drury | 31.4 | |
Waihoehoe Road Norrie Road |
||
| 32.0 | |
SH 1 south (Southern Motorway) – Hamilton |
 SH 22 begins
| ||
| 32.2 | |
SH 1 north (Southern Motorway) – Auckland |
|||
| Franklin | Bombay | 42.5 | |
Mill Road | |
| 42.9 | |
SH 1 south (Southern Motorway) – Hamilton |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ O'Malley, Vincent. "'The great war for NZ broke out less than 50 km from Queen St': Vincent O'Malley on the Waikato War and the making of Auckland". Spinoff.
- ^ Roads – Development (from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966 Edition. Accessed 19 July 2008.)
- ^ Prickett, Nigel (2003). "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF QUEEN'S REDOUBT, SOUTH AUCKLAND". Records of the Auckland Museum. 40: 5–37. ISSN 1174-9202.
- ^ a b "Newmarket Viaduct – Landscape & Urban Design Framework". Transit New Zealand. 7 November 2008. p. Section 5.3.
- ^ North End: Great South Road, Epsom, Auckland (Google Maps, accessed 7 December 2010.)
- ^ Bombay: [1] (Google Maps, accessed 12 September 2018.)
- ^ South End: Great South Road, Ohaupo, Waikato (Google Maps, accessed 7 December 2010.)
External links[]
- NZ Geographic article
- Dominic Gamble Soldier involved in road construction
- Manukau timeline
Coordinates: 36°52′47″S 174°47′02″E / 36.87962°S 174.78394°E
- Streets in Auckland