KEY POINTS:
Sweltering heat ensured much of the freshly-laid tarseal went home on the soles of the 10,000-odd walkers attending yesterday's Northern Gateway toll road open day.
Volunteers handed out water bottles to parched pedestrians as the sun beat down and the tar turned to treacle on one of the hottest days of the summer, so far.
The bypass - four years in the making - runs from Orewa to Puhoi, allowing motorists willing to pay the toll an opportunity to avoid the numerous bottlenecks on the existing Hibiscus Coast Highway.
Buses were laid on to ferry sightseers from the Orewa end of the site to the Johnstone Hill tunnels - the northern, public, face of the project.
Braver souls were free to walk the 15km round trip, with a series of water stations and sausage sizzles in place to ensure no one got overheated or hungry while on the road.
And visitors to the site seemed to like what they saw, despite much of the road being unsealed and many of the completed excavations still bare earth.
Joy Wilson of Dairy Flat said though she would likely stick to the scenic route north through Orewa, the new roadway was an example of what could be achieved when people put their minds to it - and industrial action didn't get in the way.
"It's something marvellous for New Zealanders to have a thing [completed] on time - or before time - and without strikes ... and under budget.
"We should be proud of ourselves."
Another Red Beach woman said she was "blown away" by the project.
Having grown up in Germany, Bernard Esch is no stranger to large public works, such as the tunnels under the English Channel and through the Swiss Alps.
But even he liked the new Johnstone Hill tunnels, despite them coming in at a relatively puny 385 metres long.
Transport Agency national toll project chief Brent Maguire said the tolling equipment and road signage was in place, and construction crews were "double shifting" in order to get the project completed. The bypass is likely to open early in the new year.
The Northern Motorway Extension - facts and figures:
$365 million cost.
7.5km long.
Twin 385-metre tunnels at the northern end.
Six new bridges totalling 1.1km.
130,000sqm of pavement.
4 million cubic metres of earthworks.
60,000 cubic metres of concrete.
$2 toll for cars, $4 for vehicles over three tonnes.
