Work on restoring the Onehunga Foreshore has been going on since December 2012 and is nearing completion with the area expected to be open in November. When complete there will be

  • 6.8ha of new parkland
  • a pedestrian and cycle bridge over SH20 linking the new foreshore to Onehunga Bay Reserve
  • sandy and gravel/shell beaches
  • a boat ramp
  • pedestrian and cycle paths
  • park facilities such as a toilet block, park furniture and carpark.

To show just how much the area has changed the two images below highlight what the area looked like before work started and as it was just a few months ago in July.

Onehunga Foreshore October 2012
October 2012
Onehunga Foreshore July 2015
July 2015

What a difference three years, more than 334,000 cubic metres of fill, 11,000 cubic metres of sand and 30,000 native plants make. There is also a timelapse and some aerial shots of the work below

I’m looking forward to this opening

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17 comments

  1. This is great, but I can’t help but notice those annoying powerlines hanging over the site. Was it too expensive to put those underground or something?

    1. If these beaches become as popular as Cornwall Park is for mass family gatherings their will be lots of people saying the same thing.
      I’ll be sailing there for sure : )

      1. AT have plans to provide an off-road path along Orpheus Drive for the cycleway. Still not sure whether that got included in the current works, haven’t been down there for ages.

        The foreshore restoration also has shared paths (CAA got them made wider during the submission process), but they are pretty meandering. Nice for a toodle with the kids, but not for transport.

  2. It looks like a nice project, but “restoration” is a slightly odd word to use. Nothing is being returned to an original state. They are creating a new foreshore precinct. I guess you could call it “mitigation” of the motorway causeway.

  3. Those transmission lines should have put under SH20 during the extension to Mt Roskill. From there it should have continued under Maioro St, Tiverton Rd, Wolverton St and surface down the back of Olympic Park where they currently run through. But recent governments have completely avoided putting transmission lines underground when there have been motorway projects that would have made it easier and cheaper to do (like with projects widening the southern and northwestern motorways).

    1. Although I agree that the transmission lines should be undergrounded, the government wouldn’t have tied the projects together because utilities generally aren’t put underneath motorways. That just means having to close an entire motorway whenever you need to maintain them.

      We got a good demonstration of why it’s a bad idea with the Northern Busway, which does have electricity lines running underneath it and recently had to be progressively closed at great inconvenience for many weeks because of maintenance on those lines.

    1. The tunnel infill mostly went to the quarry in Wiri which is filling up pretty quickly. New industrial area will be built on top apparently. Right next to the electric train house.

  4. So that’s who has been flying a drone near my house 🙂
    I have noticed some slipage on the bank beside the pedestrian bridge which I hope is only a minor issue with the top layer. Also the road will be redtored but it was mainly used for cycling and access to the motorboat club.

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