COUNCIL RESPONDS

You may have seen that work is currently underway to upgrade the Horomatangi/ Ruapehu St intersection. This is part of the $20.6 million government-funded Taupō Town Centre Transformation project that aims to stimulate the economy in a post-Covid-19 environment and create local jobs, while at the same time enabling us to transform our CBD into a place that attracts more people to spend time and invest in the town centre.

We generally limit any major construction projects to outside busy visitor times and key events. When combined with weather constraints, this leaves a very narrow construction window. As the Taupō Town Centre Transformation project is a two-year programme, funded as one of the Government’s shovelready projects, we have had to reevaluate that window to ensure we are able to meet the timeframes required, and to have the works completed before the Ironman World Championships in December 2022 (all going to plan with our borders). In fact, you will see this work ramping up in the New Year, with what will be several construction areas underway at any one time.

We are very aware of the potential impacts on businesses, retailers, schools and other stakeholders. However, with all construction projects, there will inevitably be some short term pain for important long term gains. As part of this, we have made a commitment to work closely with those affected to minimise the impacts as much as possible and we have a stakeholder team engaging directly with affected parties to ensure we are doing this to the best of our ability.

We are still in the early concept, design or detailed design stages for much of this project. However, as soon as we have information to share, we are sharing this with affected parties, and working to come up with solutions. For example, with the Horomatangi / Ruapehu intersection upgrade we have requested our contractor undertakes night works where possible to ensure the roads are open as much as possible during retail opening hours. However, the needs of our stakeholders will differ, and we will continue to work closely with affected parties and ensure different solutions are brought to the table as needed.

Our main goal in upgrading this particular intersection is to improve pedestrian access across Ruapehu and Horomatangi, while also improving vehicle access in and out of Horomatangi St, which businesses have asked for. At present, there are no right turns when exiting Horomatangi St onto Ruapehu St, and a roundabout will address this.

We absolutely appreciate that construction like this will have short term impacts, but I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to minimise these effects. This involves a continuing conversation with affected parties, and doing what we can to minimise harm. We are absolutely committed to doing everything we can while still meeting the project objectives, budget and timeframe requirements.

We are already seeing the positive impacts of this project with local jobs and I cannot wait to see the end result, with a CBD that we can be proud of, and one that connects us better to the lakefront, and attracts people to stay longer, invest more and enjoy our beautiful district.