Signs of things to come at Whakatu Arterial

Temporary and unofficial signs showing the way at Whakatu. Photo / Duncan Brown

It's official. They're unofficial.

They are the four signs, including the inscription "1 Apollo Express Way", which have appeared on a new figure-eight roundabout at Whakatu.

It's the centre point of one of Hawke's Bay's biggest highway constructions in recent years, the Whakatu Arterial, but according to the Hastings District Council, the signs have nothing to do with the council. It says, however, the new route should be in use by the end of the year, complete with official signs pointing to such places as Napier, Hastings and Havelock North.

It also discounts the notion that some naming-rights deal has been struck, or that there's some inter-planetary connection, as out-of-towners may ponder when they see one of the signs, pointing to Apollo Foods Ltd and associated company Mars Manufacturing Ltd.

It is however a sign of the nearing of the completion of the route from State Highway 2 near Mangateretere and Pakowhai Rd (between Ruahapia Rd and the Chesterhope bridge).

Started in January this year it is the biggest road construction in the Napier-Hastings area since the building of the Napier-Hastings Expressway in 2001-2002.

It includes roundabouts at each end and a 45-metre bridge over the Karamu Stream, in a $25 million project aimed at diverting heavy transport away from residential areas to and from Napier Port.

The Hastings District Council says the roadway is now formed for all 3.5km and near-ready to be sealed.