MP's Sam Uffindel, Louise Upston, Transport Minister Simeon Brown, and Waikato MP Tim van de Molen, stand at the centre of where the new roudnabout will be. Photo / Malisha Kumar
MP's Sam Uffindel, Louise Upston, Transport Minister Simeon Brown, and Waikato MP Tim van de Molen, stand at the centre of where the new roudnabout will be. Photo / Malisha Kumar
Construction begins on the long-awaited Piarere roundabout this week and new minister for transport Simeon Brown is now talking about a new four-lane highway to connect Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
The $43.5 million roundabout will bring relief to a highway bottleneck that affects about 30,000 vehicles a day.
Brown officially launched construction of the new roundabout at the intersection of State Highway 1 (SH1) and State Highway 29 (SH29), along with New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) workers, construction workers from Downer, local MP’S including Tim van de Molen and Ryan Hamilton, and Matamata-Piako District Mayor Adrienne Wilcock.
Brown, said the new roundabout was a significant project.
“This is one of the roads of national significance from Cambridge to Piarere and we’ve outlined we also need to connect Hamilton through to Tauranga, with a four-lane expressway.
Waikato and Bay of Plenty politicians, Transport Minister Simeon Brown, and Waikato Mayor's were present onsite for the new Piarere roundabout. Photo / Malisha Kumar
“It’s part of the golden triangle as half of the population in New Zealand live in the upper North Island, and this roundabout will connect our ports to our major cities and population areas.”
With 30,000 daily road users of the intersection and safety upgrades planned for seven years, Brown said the new infrastructure was key to getting the country back on track.
“This particular project is designed to connect to a future motorway from Cambridge to Piarere, and ultimately this will allow for safety improvements, congestion improvements, and also those motorway-to-motorway connections.
“We need to have a safe and efficient transport system to grow our economy and part of that is being able to move people, goods, and freight quickly and efficiently between our cities and regions.
National Party's MP for Waikato, Tim van de Molen, said having a mechanism that will improve safety for our road users is vital. Photo / Malisha Kumar
“It’s unfortunate that the infrastructure stopped and that focus had been missing for the last six years, but we’re getting that back on track.”
Waikato MP Tim van de Molen was glad to see action being taken on long-standing concerns about the SH1 and SH29 intersection.
“The biggest concern I’ve been hearing and seeing consistently over the last few years is how dangerous and busy this intersection is, and you can see that any day you come here.
“There’s around 30,000 movements through this intersection every day and the Waikato is growing, and that growth brings challenges. We need to make sure we are ahead of the curve as best as possible with funding and infrastructure needs like this.
The new Piarere roundabout will replace the high-risk T-intersection where State Highway 1 and State Highway 29 meet.
“A roundabout in Piarere is significant and having a mechanism that will improve safety for our road users is vital, and I’m glad this is happening.”
The expected cost of the roundabout was $43.5 million due to the scale of the job. it would be 60 metres wide, and the centre would be 4m higher than the current intersection level.
The project included earthworks, pavement, surfacing, stormwater drainage and underground structures, while also requiring active temporary traffic management for 80 weeks.
Van de Molen said $43.5 million was “a staggeringly high amount” in his opinion but there were a lot of factors that led to cost escalations.
“I do have concerns around the pricing function and we need to look whether we’re getting the best return on our investment, maximising productivity, and delivering health and safety in a meaningful manner.
NZTA's Regional manager for Infrastructure delievery, Jo Wilton. Photo / Mike Scott
“A project like this in my view should have a smaller price tag and that’s certainly the feedback I’m hearing from the Waikato but at the end of the day, safety is critical and whilst it is a big cost it’s important to improve the safety here get ourselves set for the extension of the expressway as well.”
NZTA regional manager for infrastructure delivery Jo Wilton was confident $43.5 million was sufficient for this project.
“The contract we’ve signed is the construction contract value so if there are any changes to the scope then that will require additional funding because we have a set scope that that money is buying or purchasing.
“We certainly don’t envision spending any more than that but certainly, if we add things to the project then we will.”
Wilton said kicking off construction today was exciting.
“I know the community has been wanting this for some time now, and it’s always exciting when we get a project underway that we know will make a difference for the community and the travelling public.”
Work is underway on the Government’s Policy Statement on land transport that will set the Government’s nationwide transport priorities.
Construction of the new Piarere roundabout was expected to take up to two years due to warmer temperatures required for pavement and surfacing work, which would need to be done during summer, following the other works.
