- Hon Chris Bishop
Construction of Takitimu North Link Stage 1, a new four lane expressway connecting Tauranga and Te Puna, has passed the halfway point, which is great news for economic growth and productivity in the western Bay of Plenty, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says.
"This is a huge undertaking, with two thousand people having worked on the project to date and 1,500,000m3 of earthworks moved so far", Mr Bishop says.
"Four of 10 bridges are already completed (Minden Road, Minden Gully off-ramp, Wairoa Road, Cambridge Road) and traffic is using the new bridges at Minden, Wairoa and Cambridge Roads.
"Earthwork crews have now broken under the Cambridge Road and Minden Road bridges, meaning it's now possible for the project team to 'drive through' the full length of the future expressway for the first time.
Eight beams were installed at the Wairoa Awa (River) bridge recently, with 32 of a total of 80 beams now in place, spanning the awa and flood plains. 24 beams have been installed at the SH29/Takitimu Drive Toll Road flyover bridge this summer, with nine left to install in the next two months.
"At SH2/Fifteenth Avenue, crane pads are being built and piling will soon be underway to build the new bridge connection - this is the final structure to get underway on the project.
"In other positive news for local road users, congestion is set to improve between Fifteenth Avenue and Welcome Bay in the near future, with $10.3 million of funding confirmed by the NZTA Board for Tauranga City Council (TCC) to design extra traffic capacity between the Tauranga CBD and the growing suburbs of Welcome Bay, Hairini, Ohauiti and Maungatapu.
"These suburbs house 29,000 people and the local population is set to keep increasing. All these people need to cross the harbour to access services such as high schools, supermarkets and employment.
"This project being led by TCC will help road users get there more quickly, by adding another traffic lane to the bridge by removing the footpath from the main structure, re-locating the path to a lightweight clip-on structure and utilising a dynamic lane system - the first of its kind in the Bay of Plenty. Sections of 15th Avenue will also be widened, adding capacity as a T2 lane.
"It's all about saving people travel time. By reducing congestion that extends onto the state highway, modelling shows it will save more than 750 vehicle-hours of congestion per day, which is an average of 2-3 minutes of peak travel time saving per vehicle."
Note to editors:
- The Takitimu North Link Stage 1 project is a Road of National Significance supporting economic growth and productivity in the western Bay of Plenty, by providing a reliable, resilient and safe expressway connection between Tauranga and Te Puna.
- Tolling was confirmed for the project in December 2024.
- Current expected completion date is 2028.
