New Zealand State Highway 16

State Highway 16
Twin Coast Discovery Highway
Route information
Maintained by New Zealand Transport Agency
Length:	108 km (67 mi)
Tourist routes:	Twin Coast Discovery Highway
Major junctions
Southeast end:	Port of Auckland
	SH 1 "Spaghetti Junction", Auckland SH 18 Upper Harbour Motorway
Northwest end:	SH 1 at Wellsford
Location
Primary destinations:	Auckland City, Waitakere, Helensville
Highway system
New Zealand state highways Motorways and expressways List Unused ← SH 15A SH 17 →

State Highway 16 (SH 16) is a New Zealand state highway linking Auckland City with Wellsford, via Auckland's Northwestern Motorway, Helensville and Kaukapakapa. It provides an alternative to State Highway 1 for traffic travelling between Auckland and parts of Northland from Wellsford northwards.

Within the Auckland metropolitan area, SH 16 mostly runs along the Northwestern Motorway, the major exception being the first 2 km between the Port of Auckland and the Central Motorway Junction. Outside the Auckland metropolitan area, SH 16 is single carriageway with at-grade intersections.

Route

SH 16 begins in Central Auckland at the corner of The Strand, Tamaki Drive and Quay Street, directly opposite the Port of Auckland. It travels south via The Strand where it reaches the lights at Beach Road and Parnell Rise where it changes to Stanley Street. After one more set of lights at Alten Road, SH 16 becomes the Auckland Northwestern Motorway. The highway travels through the Central Motorway Junction where there are exits to SH 1 both northbound and southbound. The motorway travels west from central Auckland to West Auckland over a causeway crossing Traherne Island and the Whau Estuary. SH 16 then passes through West Auckland and past the junction with SH 18 (Upper Harbour Motorway) where it can be accessed by northbound traffic. The Northwestern Motorway terminates at the roundabout with Brigham Creek Road and Fred Taylor Drive. From here SH 16 reverts to single carriage road. It passes through the communities of Kumeu and Huapai, two areas of significant growth. SH 16 reaches the town of Helensville not long after. From here on SH 16 skirts the Kaipara Harbour on a narrow windy road, eventually returning to meet SH 1 at Wellsford where it terminates.^[1]

Route changes

SH 16 north of Helensville to Wellsford was temporarily revoked in 1994. It was reinstated in 1997.^[2][3]

Major intersections

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Refer to Northwestern Motorway for a complete list of motorway intersections

Territorial authority	Location	km	jct	Destinations	Notes
Auckland Council	Port of Auckland	0		Quay Street/Tamaki Drive	SH 16 begins
	Parnell	1		Parnell Rise Beach Road
				Nicholls Lane Alten Road	SH 16 becomes Northwestern Motorway
	Auckland CBD	2		SH 1 south (Auckland Southern Motorway)/Thermal Explorer Highway – Manukau, Hamilton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		3		SH 1 north (Auckland Northern Motorway)/Twin Coast Discovery Hwy – North Shore, Whangarei	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		4		SH 1 north (Auckland Southern Motorway)/Thermal Explorer Highway – Manukau, Hamilton	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				SH 1 south (Auckland Northern Motorway)/Twin Coast Discovery Hwy – North Shore, Whangarei	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance SH 16/Twin Coast Discovery Highway concurrency begins
	Westgate	19		SH 18 east (Upper Harbour Motorway) – North Shore	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Whenuapai	22		Fred Taylor Drive Brigham Creek Road (and )	Northwestern Motorway ends
	Kumeu	23		Coatesville-Riverhead Highway (Regional Route 28) – Riverhead, Albany	Former route for SH 18
Rodney District	Wellsford	108		SH 1 north (Rodney Street)/Twin Coast Discovery Hwy North – Whangarei, Kaitaia SH 1 south (Rodney Street)/Thermal Explorer Highway South – Warkworth, Auckland	SH 16 ends

See also

• List of New Zealand State Highways

References

1. State Highway 16 on Google Maps
2. "Traffic Volumes 1994" (PDF).
3. "Traffic Volumes 1997" (PDF).