The new section of the road will extend from a new intersection from State Highway 3 and will be 8.1km long with a 6m wide carriageway.
The road will be vital for access, in the event of flooding, to the Waiinu Beach community of about 70 fulltime people, increasing to a maximum of 300 in the summer, Nixon said.
The road will also support the ongoing financial viability of the Waitōtara Silver Ferns Farms food processing plant, which employs 350 people at peak times, and other businesses.
Plans to build the extension started in 2015 when the Limeworks Bridge on Waiinu Beach Road was damaged by floods.
The bridge was also damaged by floods in 2004 and 2006, each time closing the only access road to Waiinu beach and the meat processors, with local farmers providing access through their land while the bridge was repaired.
A plan to extend the road submitted by the council was approved by the Environment Court in 2018.
At the time it was appealed by organic dairy farmer Diana Handley, who stood to lose private land due to the construction of the extension.
Her appeal was heard in the Environment Court.
The matter went into mediation, reducing the amount of land she would lose from 4.6ha to 2.8ha, the Chronicle has previously reported.
Work officially began on the road in June 2021.
In May this year, the council proposed to take the land needed, which was still owned by Handley, under section 23 of the Public Works Act.
According to a council notice on May 5, taking the land was necessary to provide an alternative and permanent road access for the Waiinu Beach community and to establish a safer and upgraded intersection to State Highway 3.
Handley has been contacted for comment.
