Ever driven State Highway 17? It’s a story etched in asphalt. A story of winding roads and shifting designations. State Highway 17 wasn’t always State Highway 17. Before December 1999 it was part of State Highway 1. Imagine the volume of traffic before the Northern Motorway extension. This 32-kilometre stretch in northern Auckland connected State Highway 1 at Puhoi to State Highway 1 at Albany. It linked communities along the Hibiscus Coast. Towns like Waiwera known for its thermal pools. Orewa with its beautiful beach. Red Beach a surfer’s paradise. Even Silverdale and Dairy Flat felt the pulse of this crucial artery.
State Highway 17 wasn’t just a road. It was a lifeline. It connected people to work to leisure. It witnessed countless journeys. Joyful family outings. Urgent trips to the hospital. Quiet contemplative drives along the coast. Think of the stories held within each tire track. The memories imprinted on the asphalt. Each pothole a testament to time and weather.
The Northern Gateway Toll Road changed everything. In 2009 its opening rendered parts of SH1 and SH1A obsolete. State Highway 17 absorbed these sections. It wasn’t officially signposted for this extension though. This created a temporary but fascinating anomaly in the road system.
But its reign as State Highway 17 was short-lived. The NZ Transport Agency revoked its designation in October 2012. The reasons were practical. State Highway 1 and State Highway 17 ran too close. Most traffic favored the toll road. The road’s maintenance became an unnecessary duplication of effort.
Now State Highway 17 is Urban Route 31. It still serves the same communities. It still carries the weight of history. But its identity has changed. The road itself remains though. A constant silent witness to the ebb and flow of life in northern Auckland. As you stand here looking at the road consider its past and present. The stories it holds. The journeys it connects. It’s more than just a road it’s a living testament to Auckland’s growth and evolution.