Waikato Business News January/February 2020

Pukekohe
2
25
Tuakau
MERCER
11.0km
POKENO
11.6km
Meremere
Near
completion
LONGSWAMP
5.9km
Construction
2016-20
Te Kauwhata
27
2
RANGIRIRI
4.8km
Opened
2017
OHINEWAI
7.0km
Huntly
Rangiriri
Near
completion
HUNTLY
15.2km
Construction
2016-20
Huntly bypass a time-saver
The drive to Auckland is set to get quicker
and easier with the opening of the Huntly
expressway bypass.
Four-laning State Highway
1 through Waikato is
the biggest single infrastructure
project ever undertaken
in the region. One of the
most significant sections will
be celebrated with completion
events on February 14 and 15,
ahead of the road opening to
traffic at a date to be confirmed.
The 15km Huntly section
takes traffic away from congestion
points at Huntly and
Taupiri, across lowlands and
streams, and over the Taupiri
Range. It will be a time-saver
and provide a much safer route
for travellers with its central
and side barriers.
The $384 million project
has been delivered for Waka
Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
by a joint venture between
Fulton Hogan and HEB Construction.
Construction started
in late 2015.
Two days of celebrations
are planned to mark its completion.
On February 14, a
blessing of the site by iwi will
be followed by a formal stakeholder
event, ribbon-cutting
and lunch on the highway, near
Te Iringa Lagoon, about 4km
from the southern end.
The following day, Saturday
February 15, the project
will be open to the public to
walk, run, cycle and bus along
the new road, which connects
the completed expressway sections
at Ohinewai in the north
and the Ngāruawāhia section at
Gordonton Road in the south.
It has been a remarkable
journey by all involved in the
project, says Waka Kotahi NZ
Transport Agency acting director
regional relationships Ross
I’Anson.
“We are expecting a good
turnout on both days in February
and are planning for two
very memorable occasions.”
A highlight on Saturday
is the Expressway Classic
half-marathon, starting near
the lagoon and providing an
out-and-back course over
Taupiri Range to the Northern
Interchange. There are shorter
races for runners and walkers
from the same start point.
Find out more and register at
www.expresswayclassic.co.nz
Expressway Classic events
will start from 7am. Less competitive
people can walk, run
or cycle the route at their leisure,
or take a bus ride from
mid-morning when most athletes
will have finished.
With the project winding
up, final surfacing has continued
this year, including
the SMA asphalt, and barrier
installation and line marking.
The last few hundred thousand
native plants went into the
ground in spring – bringing the
total to 1.3 million.
Some of those plants have
gone in around the Te Iringa
Lagoon, just north of Orini
Road, which will be the base
for the opening events.
This area will have four
large waka-maumahara in
place to mark its cultural significance
– as do other sites
where pou, gateways and palisades
will appear.
“Without a strong relationship
with Waikato–Tainui we
could not have got this road
built in such a culturally significant
area, and that relationship
has developed further as the
project has progressed from
planning to construction,”
I’Anson says.
A feature of the project
and the biggest challenge was
a 57m cutting at Taupiri Pass.
This required 1.3 million cubic
metres of earth and rock to be
removed. The cutting lowers
the gradient to less than five
per cent so heavy vehicles can
maintain speed.
All up, the project saw
more than four million cubic
metres of earth moved – with
giant culverts installed in steep
ravines and filled with cut
material.
There are nine bridges on
the route, including one at 80m
over the Main Trunk Railway
Line at the Northern Interchange.
Another feature of the project
has been a wetland creation
off Evans Road, adjacent to
Lake Kimihia.
Improving the ecology in
the area has seen four years of
pest control, with the project
team winning the battle against
goats, possums, rats and stoats.
This has led to big improvements
for flora and fauna in the
Raglan
NGARUAWAHIA
12.3km
Ngaruawahia
Opened
2013
TE RAPA
7.3km
Opened
2012
Completed sections 23
In progress
Territorial authority boundary
Existing state highway
Other roads
Hamilton urban area
neighbouring Taupiri Scientific
Reserve.
With Huntly opening in
February and traffic on all
lanes at the Longswamp section,
there is just one remaining
piece in the 102km expressway
project – the 22km Hamilton
section.
Taupiri
39
Hamilton
PROJECT FACTS AND FIGURES
1 million tonnes of aggregate from local quarries
42,000 tonnes of Stone Mastic Asphalt
4.4 million cubic metres of earth moved
At peak 150 machines on site
1.3 million native plants planted
9 bridges
Under
construction
HAMILTON
21.8km
Construction
1B
2016-21
36 culverts – from 13m to 130m
110 decanting earth bunds and
18 sediment retention ponds
3
Ohaupo
Cambridge
26
1
Morrinsville
TAMAHERE INTERCHANGE
2.4km
CAMBRIDGE
16km
The Hamilton project – the
biggest of all the sections – has
moved past the halfway stage
with the focus shifting from
earthmoving and drainage to
completing bridges and pavement
construction. The Hamilton
section is scheduled for
completion in late 2021.
Opened
2015
Community open day – Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway
Come along to walk, run, cycle or take a bus along
the 15km Huntly section before it opens to traffic.
When: Saturday 15 February 2020, 10am-3pm (last bus departs
2pm). No bus bookings needed.
Where: On the new road, enter and exit at SH1-Gordonton Road
Interchange, Taupiri.
Expressway Classic half-marathon and other shorter running and
walking events will be held earlier in the day – see details at:
www.expresswayclassic.co.nz
BE SUN SMART Wear a hat and apply sun screen.
Northern
interchange
AUCKLAND
LAKE KIMIHIA
STOCK
CAR CLUB
HUNTLY
WAIKATO RIVER
DOC SCIENTIFIC RESERVE
Summit
All
events
based
here
TAUPIRI
MOUNTAIN
MAP LEGEND
EXISTING STATE HIGHWAYS
Parking
WAIKATO EXPRESSWAY HUNTLY SECTION
Entrance
and exit /
North and
South
URUPA
Gordonton Road
interchange
TAUPIRI
GORDONTON
ROAD
HAMILTON
NGARUAWAHIA
More information
nzta.govt.nz/huntly
waikatoexpressway
Huntly section
PART OF THE WAIKATO EXPRESSWAY
203740AA