New portion of Te Awa River Ride has been unveiled

New section of Te Awa River Ride. Photo /Supplied

Waipā District Council has removed the last of the construction fencing, marking the official opening of the new Waipā section of the Te Awa River Ride Hamilton-to-Cambridge shared path.

Waipā District Mayor Jim Mylchreest said he was elated to have the path open to the Waipā district boundary, 4.5km north of the Grassroots Trust Velodrome, following much anticipation from the community.

"I am very pleased to announce that the latest Waipā section of the Hamilton-to-Cambridge Te Awa River Ride path is now open for our residents and visitors to enjoy," said Jim.

"We hope you love it as much as we do and take the opportunity to ride, walk or glide your way through the Waipā."

Visitors can now access the Waipā section from the Gaslight Theatre or Grassroots Trust Velodrome end in Cambridge to get onto the new 4.5km shared path, which boasts stunning views of the awa, treescape and surrounding farmland.

Jim reminded visitors that access via Hooker Rd in Tamahere will remain closed until Waikato District Council opens its adjoining section, expected in the coming weeks. He also advised the new section is more challenging.

"The velodrome-to-Hooker Rd section is a little more challenging than our others, there are a few more hills than you might expect. I recommend you bring water and slow down to enjoy the views," said Jim.

"As the trail passes through working farms, from time to time it will need to be closed for spraying but we will give you as much notice as possible so please check our social media channels for regular updates."

Jennifer Palmer, general manager of Te Awa River Ride Charitable Trust, said she was thrilled to have another section of the Hamilton-to-Cambridge path open.

"We've been waiting in anticipation for construction to be completed and we are so thrilled to have this part of the Hamilton to Cambridge path open. Te Awa is already one of New Zealand's busiest trails and cycling is soaring across NZ – having 60km of connected, off-road path travelling through beautiful and diverse scenery has so many social and economic benefits for our region."

To further celebrate the opening of the latest section, Waipā District Council is running a Ride & Win with Waipā competition for the month of March, where visitors to Te Awa can be in to win one of two bikes valued at up to $1000 each, sponsored by local Cambridge bike specialist Spoken Cycles, and one of four bike prize packs. Terms and conditions for the competition are available at waipadc.govt.nz/teawabikepromo.

Further along the Te Awa River Ride Hamilton-to-Cambridge shared path, Waikato district sections from Tamahere Drive to Hooker Rd and Wiremu Tamihana Drive to Riverglade Drive have also recently opened to the public. Hamilton City Council and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency are still constructing their sections of the Hamilton-to-Cambridge Te Awa River Ride shared path and expect to be opened this year.

The Hamilton-to-Cambridge shared path section of Te Awa was one of the successful shovel-ready projects that received funding of $8.2 million from the Infrastructure Industry Reference Group, supported by Crown Infrastructure Partners. The Hamilton-to- Cambridge section is being built by Waipā district, Waikato district and Hamilton city councils and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, as it crosses each territorial boundary.
Find out more about Te Awa River Ride shared path at www.te-awa.org.nz.