A $5.1 million new section of State Highway 2 at Athenree Gorge has officially opened.
Representatives from local iwi Ngai Te Rangi, Coromandel MP Scott Simpson and Western Bay of Plenty District Council Deputy Mayor Gwenda Merriman attended the formal opening yesterday.
The event included a blessing of the road, a speech by Mr Simpson and a performance by the Katikati College kapa haka group.
The NZ Transport Agency project started in March 2013 and was carried out in two stages.
The work involved realigning the bends of the road which had a high crash rate.