Coromandel MP: ‘We’ve all been misled’ over SH25A

Work on building a new summit bridge on SH25A is to begin shortly. Photo / Jim Birchall

OPINION

We’ve been promised for months that SH25A would be reopened by early 2024.

To find out now that we’ve all been misled has come as a huge shock to people on the Coromandel. The Transport Minister has confirmed that construction is going to take 12 to 14 months, which puts the timeline for reopening well into 2024.

This will come as a blow to everyone on the peninsula and those who were looking at spending the summer here. It’s unacceptable that we still can’t get a straight answer as to when we can expect to travel normally again.

This lack of certainty does little to help businesses or individuals plan for the months ahead, and it does nothing to prevent the Coromandel from experiencing another restricted summer. Ever since the highway dropped away, the Government and NZTA have done nothing to prioritise and expedite the reopening of SH25A.

Coromandel MP Scott Simpson says we need a solution that gets SH25A reopened by this Christmas. Photo / File

It’s been five and a half months and they are only now setting up site offices. With the way the project has been handled so far, it would be no surprise to see SH25A become another piece of infrastructure that Labour can’t deliver.

The damage caused by the continued closure of SH25A is felt every day by the people of the Coromandel as they spend more time and money travelling the other routes around the peninsula. We are all frustrated and angry at the lack of urgency from the Government, NZTA and our council who seem happy to just accept without question that the project is progressing according to plan.

If we are indeed looking at a reopening date closer to mid to late 2024, that would be devastating for the Coromandel. Every day that the highway remains closed is another challenge for individuals and businesses.

Our region is battered, bruised but not beaten. We need a solution that gets SH25A reopened by this Christmas.

Authorised by Scott Simpson MP, 614 Pollen St, Thames