Country: New Zealand
Key Area: Transportation
Services: Bridge Engineering,Civil Engineering,Transportation Infrastructure Design

The new State Highway 1 Avalon Drive Bypass in Hamilton, New Zealand, which was designed by Opus, opened to traffic several months ahead of schedule last October. It aims to reduce congestion and improve safety.

The Bypass separates heavy through traffic from local traffic on Avalon Drive with the completion of the new two-kilometre bypass. It includes two new roundabouts with underpasses (to allow for the safe passage of pedestrians and cyclists), noise walls and a new over-bridge.

Construction of the roundabout and the new rail bridge at the southern end were complex and involved extensive collaboration between the NZ Transport Agency and Ontrack the rail track owner. Temporary diversion of State Highway 1 was necessary when the roundabout area was lowered by over three metres and a diversion of the railway track was also necessary when constructing the new rail bridge and lowering the road by over seven metres to allow it to pass under the rail bridge.

Approximately 2.5 kilometres of new footpaths, of which 1.6 kilometres is suitable for both pedestrians and cyclists, were constructed as part of the project.