1996 National Roading Programme: Waikato/BOP NRP news

The Waikato/Bay of Plenty regional spending for the 1996 National Roading Programme had the following main statistics:

• $99.47m for Waikato. State Highway maintenance and construction spending was the main output class, with 50% of spending. 
• $44.44m for the Bay of Plenty. State Highway maintenance and construction spending was the main output class, with 51% of spending.

Main increases for state highway spending were for additional reseals, additional pavement rehabilitation and additional road markings.

Safety projects of note were:

• Hamilton City arterial street lighting upgrade
• Rotokauri Street safety improvements, Hamilton City
• SH2 Sargents Corner realignment 
• SH27 Maukoro Landing Road intersection upgrade
• SH5 Tarukenga Curves Stage 2 realignment
• SH5 Tumunui South realignment
• 32.3km of seal extension throughout both regions

No new state highway construction projects were approved because of the high value of committed works, and all but two local road construction projects were seal extension projects. The seal extension projects were in Otorohonga District, Waitomo District, Opotiki District, Western Bay of Plenty District and Whakatane District.

Committed major projects included:

• SH1 Pokeno Bypass (extension of Waikato Expressway)
• SH1 Mangatawhiri Bridge realignment (part of Waikato Expressway)
• Hamilton City Pukete Arterial Stage 1
• SH2 Church-Timber Mill
• SH25 Kuaotunu Hill seal extension
• SH25 Coromandel-Whangapoua seal extension
• SH5 Earthquake Flats realignment

Transfund NRP news Hamilton Office 1996 p1

Transfund NRP news Hamilton Office 1996 p2

Transfund NRP news Hamilton Office 1996 p3

Transfund NRP news Hamilton Office 1996 p4

Transfund NRP news Hamilton Office 1996 p5

Transfund NRP news Hamilton Office 1996 p6

National Land Transport Programme 1996 - Waikato/Bay of Plenty regional office newsletter

 

Connections Newsletter August 1995

NLTP 1996 Waikato/BOP maintenance and safety improvements

NLTP 1996 - Waikato/BOP Bridge renewals, new construction, investigation and design projects

NLTP 1996 - Waikato/BOP investigation/design projects and commitments, with overall summary

The Hamilton regional office of Transit New Zealand covered both Waikato and the Bay of Plenty . This newsletter highlighted spending in both regions for the 1996 NLTP.  $96.9m was allocated for Waikato and $32.4m for the Bay of Plenty, with higher funding for any region outside Auckland.

In both regions state highway funding predominated, although local road funding was around two-thirds that for state highways.  A significant proportion of funding was for previously committed projects to the extent that no new state highway construction projects were approved (except safety improvement projects).

Notable was an explanation about the increase in seal extension funding (seen all across the country):

"Approximately 20 kilometres of road will be sealed in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty during 1995/96. This is a dramatic increase over the 4 kilometres of seal extensions completed in 1994/95 and is largely a result of TNZ's new evaluation procedures now placing a value on the" comfort factor that users assign to travelling on scaled roads"

Notable projects included:

• Earthquake Flat realignment SH5 Rotorua
• Pokeno Bypass SH1 (commitment)
• Pukete Arterial, Hamilton City (commitment) 
• Mangaiti Hill Realignment, SH1 South Waikato (commitment)
• SH25 seal completion (commitment)
• Mangatawhiri Bridge realignment SH1 (commitment)
• Tamahere Interchange SH1 (commitment)

Also noted is extensive funding for investigation and design work on projects such as SH38 seal extension, Katikati Bypass SH2 (which has not proceeded) and four laning of state highways in Rotorua.  Indicative is an extensive commitment to funding small scale safety projects across local and state highway networks.

Connections August 1994

 

Connections August 1994

Connections August 1994

The Hamilton Regional Office published a newsletter called Connections, this is the first edition. It summarises progress on a range of projects in the Waikato region. Of historical note are:

• Upgrades to SH25 around the Coromandel Peninsula including completing the sealing of the highway!
• Three major SH1 projects that all comprised part of the Waikato Expressway and were the first stages of the expressway.

Other projects listed include realignments at Mangaiti Hill south of Tokoroa, Tuahu realignment south of Atiamuri (both on SH1), Chinaman's Hill realignment and Te Kawa Crossroads on SH3, and the Whakahora Deviation on SH27.  Altogether it highlights how many relatively small, but high value projects were being advanced with Benefit Cost Ratios of 5 and above in the region, primarily because they would reduce serious accidents.

SH25

In 1994, there was concern about the need to make the only highway around the Coromandel Peninsula safer and more resilient. A key part of this is sealing the section from Whitianga to Coromandel to enable a sustainable and attractive tourist route.  

SH1

The term "Waikato Expressway" had not been coined yet, but Transit NZ had already made a strategic decision to plan for a four-lane highway between Auckland and Cambridge.  The three projects mentioned are under construction, out to tender and under design respectively:

• Tamahere Deviation: 3.5km of expressway south of Hamilton at the intersection with Airport Road, justified due to the poor accident record, but showed some considerable foresight to build the first segment of expressway in Waikato.  Note the construction cost of only $9 million.
• Mangatawhiri Bridge Realignment: This segment south of Pokeno eliminated a sharp and narrow section of highway (now Pioneer Rd).  Noting that it took 2.5 years of loading on the ground due to the soft soils, which would prove to be an issue for other segments of road in this area, and was a short four-lane segment designed to connect with..
• Pokeno Bypass: Hard to believe now, but in 1994 SH1 went through Pokeno.  The new 4km bypass connecting directly with the (then) recently opened Bombay Hills Interchange would, with the Mangatawhiri project, effectively extend the expressway south to Mercer,  As with other early segments, the accident rate in Pokeno, plus travel time and fuel savings made this a highly efficient project to advance.