Great South Road
These days, long parts of Great South Road's length are urban or suburban
Length42.9 km (26.7 mi)
LocationAuckland, New Zealand
North endBroadway/Manukau Road
South endMill 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

Many sections of Great South Road were constructed on ara hīkoi; traditional walking paths used by Tāmaki Māori.[1] The first sections of Great South Road were constructed in 1843.[2] In 1851, the Tāmaki Bridge was constructed between Ōtāhuhu and Papatoetoe, opening up the south for greater development.[2] By 1855, the road had reached as far south as Drury, from which a track led towards the Waikato River.[2] In 1861, Governor George Grey ordered the construction of the Great South Road further into the Waikato, to improve supply lines through swampy and thickly forested country, prior to the Invasion of the Waikato.[3] The road was constructed by British Army troops, including Dominic Jacotin Gamble, and provided a flow of supplies for the Waikato campaign.[4] Queen's Redoubt at Pōkeno was a major base of operations for soldiers working on constructing the road.[5] Approximately 12,000 soldiers were involved in the construction over two years.[6]

Toll booths were set up along the road in 1866 at Newmarket, Ōtāhuhu and Drury in order to pay for upkeep costs of the Great South Road.[7] Travellers along the Great South Road complained about the excessive cost of these tolls, which were abolished in 1875.[2] 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.[6]

Much of the road between Newmarket and Drury was laid in concrete in the 1920s, up to one foot thick. The road was later covered with asphalt.[6][8] 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there is a ‘22 mile’ milestone marker outside Drury School, in Drury.[6] The Auckland Southern Motorway has largely superseded Great South Road as a through route, but many parts of the road are still in use, particularly the urban sections.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 in the central Auckland suburb of Epsom, then passes through the suburbs of Greenlane, Penrose, Ōtāhuhu, 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. 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.

Major intersections

Local BoardSuburbkmjctDestinationsNotes
Albert-EdenEpsom0.0Manukau Road – Royal Oak, Onehunga
Alpers Avenue – City Centre
Broadway – Newmarket
St Marks Road
1.1Market Road (east) – Remuera
Market Road (west) – Mount Eden
Greenlane2.3Green Lane East – Remuera
Green Lane West – Western Springs
2.7Woodbine Avenue
2.8Campbell Road – Royal Oak
Maungakiekie-TāmakiEllerslie
2.9Main Highway – Ellerslie
3.6Rockfield Road
3.9Central Park business park
Penrose4.1Ellerslie Panmure Highway – Ellerslie
4.8Station Road East – Penrose
5.5Penrose Road – Mount Wellington
6.4South Eastern Highway – Mount Wellington, Pakuranga
Church Street – Onehunga, Royal Oak
6.6Church Street East
7.1Southdown Lane
Mount Wellington7.5Sylvia Park Road – Mount Wellington
7.9Vestey Drive
8.8Portage Road (east) – Mount Wellington
Portage Road (west) – Māngere, Manukau City
Māngere-ŌtāhuhuŌtāhuhu
9.4Albion Road
Huia Road
9.5Princes Street
9.8Avenue Road
Mason Avenue
10.1Atkinson Avenue
High Street
10.8Mangere Road – Māngere, Middlemore Hospital, Airport
Ōtara-PapatoetoePapatoetoe11.8Bairds Road – Ōtara, MIT
13.0Shirley Road
13.2East Tamaki Road – Ōtara, East Tāmaki
13.3Kolmar Road
13.5Sutton Crescent
13.9Tui Road
St George Street
Manukau15.4Reagan Road
Puhinui Road – Airport
15.9Ryan Place
16.1Te Irirangi Drive – Howick
Cavendish Drive – Airport
16.2Southpoint retail park
16.4Ronwood Avenue
16.8Redoubt Road
Manukau Station Road – Manukau City Centre		Former SH 20
17.0Lakewood Court
ManurewaWiri17.2 from SH 1 (Southern Motorway)
18.0Kerrs Road
Manurewa18.8Orams Road – Totara Heights
Browns Road – Homai
20.2Hill Road
20.3Station Road
20.6Alfriston Road – Alfriston, Clevedon
Weymouth Road – Clendon, Homai
21.8Mahia Road – Wattle Downs, Clendon
PapakuraTakanini22.3 SH 1 north (Southern Motorway) – Auckland
22.6 SH 1 south (Southern Motorway) – Hamilton
23.0Manuroa Road
Beaumaris Way
23.5Taka Street
Walter Strevens Drive
24.2Glenora Road
24.3The Furlong
24.7Walters Road
Inlet Road
Longford Park Drive
25.1Waka Street
Papakura26.1Subway Road
26.3O'Shannessey Street
26.4Queen Street
26.5Broadway
Elliot Street
26.9Wood Street
27.1Wellington Street
Ōpaheke27.7Settlement Road
Beach Road
Drury31.4Waihoehoe Road
Norrie Road
32.0 SH 1 south (Southern Motorway) – Hamilton SH 22 begins
32.2 SH 1 north (Southern Motorway) – Auckland
FranklinBombay42.5Mill Road
42.9 SH 1 south (Waikato Expressway) – Hamilton

See also

References

  1. ↑ Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Area Plan Update (PDF) (Report). Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board, Auckland Council. September 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Papatoetoe Heritage Trail" (PDF). Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board. 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  3. ↑ O'Malley, Vincent (6 December 2016). "'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". The Spinoff. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  4. ↑ Roads – Development (from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966 Edition. Accessed 19 July 2008.)
  5. ↑ Prickett, Nigel (2003). "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF QUEEN'S REDOUBT, SOUTH AUCKLAND". Records of the Auckland Museum. 40: 5–37. ISSN 1174-9202.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Newmarket Viaduct – Landscape & Urban Design Framework". Transit New Zealand. 7 November 2008. p. Section 5.3.
  7. ↑ Wichman, Gwen (2001). Soaring Bird: a History of Manurewa to 1965. Manurewa: Manurewa Historical Society. p. 25. ISBN 0-473-07114-2. Wikidata Q117421984.
  8. ↑ Wichman, Gwen (1990), A brief history of Manurewa, Manurewa: Manurewa Historical Society, p. 6, Wikidata Q117327773

36°52′49″S 174°46′58″E / 36.88016°S 174.78288°E / -36.88016; 174.78288

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