New four-lane alternative Brynderwyns route: what it means for Northlanders

Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the Government will accelerate work on a new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei, including over the Brynderwyns.

Coping with the uncertainty of Northland’s dismal roads, particularly over the Brynderwyn Hills on State Highway 1, is like being on a rollercoaster.

The despondency and frustration Northlanders feel when the Brynderwyns are closed after the hillside falls away after a storm.

The jubilation they feel when the highway opens after days, weeks, months – even a third of an entire year – following repairs by NZ Transport Agency [NZTA] and its workers.

There’s been slip after slip; caused by storms before, during, and after Cyclone Gabrielle, during remedial works in April, and again on July 20 when heavy rain closed the highway in both directions.

Each time, business owners watch in despair as customers and earnings slip away too; the repeated closures of the vital transport link are costing the region dearly.

Northlanders are cut off from friends and family, hospital appointments are cancelled or delayed; everyone is affected in some way.

So when the Government announced on Tuesday it was accelerating a four-lane highway between Auckland and Whangārei – including an alternative route over the Brynderwyns – it was welcome news.

What’s different this time?

There’s been talk of a four-lane highway between Auckland and Whangārei, and plenty of ideas tossed around, for years.

There have been many government promises too; a four-lane highway was flagged by then-Transport Minister Simon Bridges in 2016, again in 2020, and yet again by then-National Party leader Judith Collins in 2020.

NZTA even got as far as public consultation on alternative routes in 2017.

In November 2023, the new coalition Government committed to building a four-lane highway alternative to the crumbling Brynderwyn Hills.

At the time, the question on everyone’s lips was: When?

Now, the Government says it will accelerate work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the delivery of the Northland Expressway would be accelerated by treating the three roads as stages of a single project.

They are:

• Phase One: Warkworth to Te Hana (just north of Wellsford)
• Phase Two: Te Hana to Port Marsden (alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills)
• Phase Three: Port Marsden to Whangārei.

Combined, the three sections currently measure 98.7km, but the finished expressway is likely to be longer given the need to go around the Brynderwyns.

There’s been talk for decades of an alternative highway to deal with the Brynderwyns problem.

Whangārei District Council Deputy Mayor Phil Halse said a bypass “has been talked about for the last 35 years”.

“We need to give this Government the chance to secure a route as fast as possible for the economic benefit of Northland.

“We keep going on about Northland being underfunded and underdeveloped.

“We can’t maximise our potential until we get this highway in and let our businesses have a crack at the rest of the country.”

What’s the cost and who pays?

So far, it’s cost around $85m to do urgent repairs on the Brynderwyns due to damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and previous storms.

However, the final figure doesn’t account for costs associated with the additional slips in April and July 20.

These remedial works are only a temporary fix, expected to buy the beleaguered road a few more years.

As for the new, four-lane highway, the cost is still being worked out.

The Government said:

“Indicative costs of the project are being determined as part of a detailed business case which is being developed and will be confirmed between the Treasury, NZTA, and Ministry of Transport.

“This will refine cost estimates and risks and outline the approach to funding, including how different funding tools and sources will be used.”

Northlanders from all walks of life are crying out for a four-lane highway that will improve travel between Auckland and Whangārei.

An investment case will be reported back to Cabinet for approval this year.

The Government said a public-private partnership model would enable it to speed up planning, design, and construction.

This will include assessing all Roads of National Significance for tolling.

But that’s yet to be decided.

Brown said the Government “will support all NZTA recommendations to toll roads”.

“No proposals have been lodged by NZTA to toll this project, nor have any decisions been made to toll.”

Where will it go?

In 2017, NZTA sought public feedback on two alternative route options.

Both were to the west of SH1 over the Brynderwyn Hills.

However, the Labour Government put the project on hold in 2018.

Halse and Northland Regional Council transport committee member Simon Reid proposed their own idea – a viaduct up the hills’ southern flanks.

Following the coalition Government’s commitment in 2023, NZTA said it’s taking another look at all the options.

Northland MP Grant McCallum’s Maungatoroto farm is located on two of the proposed alternate routes to the west of SH1.

How much of his property would be impacted depends on which route is chosen, he said.

One of the routes goes through the back of his farm which would “reduce the size of the unit”, while the other option goes “clean through the middle”.

“It goes through the manager’s house, my parent’s house, and my house.

“No one wants their house or property to have a major piece of infrastructure through it.

“But when it’s something for the greater good you have to step back and think we wouldn’t have roads, power, and other services if we didn’t find our way through these major projects.”

McCallum is philosophical about a chunk of the highway going through his farm.

He said he won’t stand in the way of progress, and would step aside and let the family deal with it.

Northland MP Grant McCallum’s farm is located on two of the proposed alternate routes to the west of SH1.

“Like every other landowner affected, I will enter into good faith negotiations with the Crown under the Public Works Act for a negotiated settlement – but I won’t be involved in that.”

Other residents have not been so enthusiastic.

In 2017, during public consultation, a group of Waipu residents were horrified to see plans to bypass the Brynderwyns would cut straight through their community.

Residents from Brooks Rd and other nearby roads raised concerns that the routes would run directly through their houses and properties and chop their community in half.

McCallum acknowledged “the degree of uncertainty it creates for landowners”.

“It’s very unsettling.

“That’s why we’re moving through this process as fast as possible so people can move on with their lives.”

When will work start?

During a site visit to the Brynderwyns in March, Brown said planning for a new bypass was in the early stages and work would begin within 10 years.

At Tuesday’s announcement, he said he expected the new “accelerated approach” would deliver the project up to 10 years faster.

The first phase of the Northland Expressway (Warkworth to Te Hana) is expected to begin procurement, enabling works, and construction within three years.

As for the other two phases, including the alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills, Brown said:

“Property impacts, final alignment, and timelines will be confirmed as the project progresses and the design work is completed.”

The Government also says construction timing is dependent on NZTA securing necessary funding and approvals.

One thing is certain – many are frustrated that progress on an alternative route was put on hold for the past seven years.

The Brynderwyns have been closed frequently over the past couple of years, cutting Northlanders off from the rest of the country.

McCallum said that during the last lot of consultations, in 2017, NZTA hadn’t done any geotech work.

However, “this time round they have to progress all that,” he said.

“The last Government stopped all this, their transport policy didn’t have any work done on new roading projects.

“The only roading project consented was the Dome Valley.

“It was all stopped.

“So, we had to wait for the new government policy statement ... that allowed NZTA to get on with their work.”

How will it benefit Northland?

A four-lane highway between Auckland and Whangārei would have huge benefits for Northlanders.

Not only would it boost business confidence, it would save people time and money, and improve social outcomes and access to healthcare.

Earlier this year Northland Corporate Group [NCG] commissioned a report by the NZ Institute of Economic Research.

It found investing in a four-lane expressway between Auckland and Northland could boost national GDP by $1.2 billion a year by 2050.

The Te Tai Tokerau Northland Expressway report also found it would unlock growth in Northland; the road will have quantified monetary benefits of up to $368m a year by 2050.

“It will fundamentally transform the prosperity of Northland forever,” NCG secretary Julian Smith said.

“We’re a region that’s got so much rich potential and we’re so close to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest market.

“That lack of resilience in the transport corridor makes it difficult and uneconomical for commerce to flow freely.

“Providing communities, businesses, tourists, transporters, and customers with certainty they can travel easily and efficiently between those two regions creates an enormous amount of confidence and certainty.”

Whangārei District Council Deputy Mayor Phil Halse said Northlanders should get behind the new project.

Investing in SH1 would unlock an “enormous amount” of capital investment in the region, Smith said.

Costs would be down, revenue and employment would increase, and businesses would bring forward investment if SH1 were upgraded to a four-lane expressway.

“Northlanders are prepared to invest in their region if they have confidence,” Smith said.

Smith said an expressway would benefit all New Zealanders.

“Much of the rest of the country relies heavily on resources from Northland, such as Port Marsden.

“It can only be a great thing for the rest of the country as well.

“The hospitality and tourism sectors are impacted by the lack of resilience in the roading connections but there’s also the perception that our roading is bad.

“When people are deciding whether to travel to Northland ... they are informed by the perception of the quality of the roading, and that uncertainty causes people to travel elsewhere.”

Halse said Northlanders should “back our minister to get the job done”.

“All of Northland needs to jump behind him and support him.

“It’s a positive move.”

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.