The project includes 17 bridges, five new interchanges and walking and cycle paths, and will see a restoration strategy developed for a number of Hamilton’s gully systems.
Prime Minister Rt Hon John Key and Transport Minister Hon Simon Bridges turned the first sod for the project at a ceremony on 11 March that included Transport Agency and local council representatives, project staff, landowners and Waikato-Tainui.
The Transport Agency’s Hamilton Highways Manager, Kaye Clark says the Hamilton section is the final critical piece of the Waikato Expressway puzzle.
“This inter-regional route is critical, not only to reduce travel times but also to remove inter-regional traffic from local roads, helping to improve the safety and connections between Waikato’s rural communities and towns,” Mrs Clark says.
Once complete, the Waikato Expressway will reduce the journey time between Auckland and south of Cambridge by up to 35 minutes, improve connections for freight and business, support economic growth and development, and significantly improve safety on this stretch of State Highway 1.
Although the Waikato Expressway will not be completed until 2020, we’re already seeing some early benefits from the work to align this with the region’s Future Proof Growth Strategy:
- Up to 99 per cent of new urban residential development is happening within the areas identified in the settlement patterns.
- Five strategic areas have been enabled for industrial development by the Expressway and the Waikato region’s growth strategy Future Proof to support economic growth over the next 45 years.
- The number of new developments outside the identified industrial nodes has reduced significantly in just three years, from 590 lots in 2010 to 180 in 2013.
These are all positive signs that the Transport Agency’s partnership with Waikato District Council, Hamilton City Council, Waipa District Council and Waikato-Tainui on integrated land use and transport planning will deliver even greater benefits for the region and New Zealand’s economy in coming years.
Read more about the Waikato Expressway project.
Pictured (from left to right) are:
Waikato MP Lindsay Tisch
Transport Agency Chief Executive Fergus Gammie
Minister of Transport Hon Simon Bridges
Hamilton East MP David Bennett
Hamilton City Mayor Julie Hardaker
Prime Minister Rt Hon John Key
Transport Agency Regional Director, Waikato Bay of Plenty, Harry Wilson
Transport Agency Hamilton Highway Manager Kaye Clark
Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson
Son of the Tumuaki Hone Thompson
Waikato Regional Council Chairwoman Paula Southgate
Waikato Tainui Chairman Rahui Papa