Work on an alternative four-lane highway to Northland will begin within 10 years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.
However, planning is only in the early stages and the cost of the project won’t be known until at least August.
Speaking to media during a site tour of the current
He said they wanted to get it under construction as quickly as possible, and that it would likely happen “much quicker” than 10 years.
“My message is this (alternative route) is the number one priority going forward.
“I can’t give an exact time frame on it just yet but our Government is committed to this route, committed to unlocking all funding and financing options to get it done as quickly as possible, and also we’ve put fast-tracking consenting on the table, which means major infrastructure like this doesn’t take a decade to consent.”
Brown claimed no work had started on the alternative for the past six years.
The last Government’s cancellation of the Roads of National Significance (RONS) programme was one of its “worst decisions”,- “an appalling decision”, Brown said.
“We’re re-starting it (RONS) because we know that we need to connect our regions and our cities with resilient, high-quality, infrastructure and that’s what we’ve committed to as a government.”
Brown said an alternative highway was needed if economic growth opportunities were to be unlocked in Northland.
“We know that the Warkworth to Te Hana section - that is also critically important - will unlock $500 million of GDP on an annual basis to our economy.”
More details including an estimated cost for the new Northland highway would be released in August or September as part of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Waka Kotahi’s national land transport programme.
“We want all funding and financing options on the table to get infrastructure built faster and sooner in New Zealand,” Brown said.
The Government was committed, he said, to “unblocking the red and green tape that makes it so hard to get things done in New Zealand”.
Resilience work, for which $61 million funding was approved, started on the fragile Brynderwyns route on February 26. The road reopens this Thursday for six days over Easter before closing again from April 3 until May 12.
During Tuesday’s site visit, Fulton Hogan Project Director Ashley Cooper said the remaining work would continue with the road open; the whole project is expected to be finished by Christmas.
Brown said the decision to close the road was a “tough” one and he knew it had caused inconvenience, especially for freight operators forced to take the longest of three detour routes.
However, he was confident that once operators saw the work that had been done, they would appreciate that closing the road was the quickest, safest, way to enable the resilience work it so desperately needed.
The road - which carries up to 15,000 vehicles daily - had been closed eight times since 2022. Northland had suffered because of it, Brown said.
The upgrade work being done on it would see it last another seven to 10 years.
While that wasn’t a long-term solution, it was crucial in buying the Government the time it needed to scope and begin building the alternative four-lane highway to Northland, to which it had committed last year, Brown said.
“This is about making sure that the route is resilient while the work starts on the alternative.”
Cooper said the aim of the Brynderwyn’s project was to create additional space on the corridor, which would allow better management for future events on the hill without disrupting traffic. In severe weather events, it would provide room into which to clear slips and debris, minimising the need for lengthy, major closures. It could also provide access for maintenance and emergency vehicles.
“It’s not about making it a three or four-lane highway - that’s not the purpose. It’s about resilience to make sure that going forward - because they can’t stop the slips - we can reduce the likelihood of them by laying the land back.
“But the geology means it’s constantly on the move up there. Things will happen and who knows what weather events we’ll get but it’s about being able to deal with those events while maintaining two lanes of traffic on the hill,” Cooper said.
He was pleased with the progress, which was on schedule and on budget - in fact earthworks were ahead of schedule.
Earthworks had been completed on the northernmost section of the road with drainage and pavement work now started there. Earthworks on the southern section were also almost complete. Work around the waterfall area was yet to start as final negotiations were still underway with iwi to discuss what the final profile would look like. That work was expected to start after Easter.
Contractors had been working around the clock clearing vegetation and had shifted more than 127,000 cubic metres of dirt to shore up hills with benching and better drainage. About 25,000m3 of earth was still to be moved.
In some places, retaining walls were being installed to prevent underslips. Most of the hill was being widened by trimming back and in some places, a significant amount of soil had to be removed. Newly created benched slopes were being erosion-proofed with netting and grassing.
Motorists familiar with the route would notice significant changes, Cooper said.
Director Regional Relationships NZTA would like to Steve Mutton said he hoped the brief re-opening of the road would provide some reprieve for motorists and truckies ahead of the final closure block next month.
“We know there is considerable interest in the work that has been completed during the closure to date, however, we’d like to remind people that there is strictly no stopping on any state highways unless there is an emergency.
“During the six-day reopening, people can expect to see safety measures in place near to areas crews have been working. We ask all road users to allow extra time for their journey as traffic volumes will be increased over the holiday period.”
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
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