Quicker option for drivers
Build it and they will drive over it. That’s how many people are seeing the newly green-lit four-lane highway between Tararua and Manawatu¯.
The proposed $620-million fourlane section of road connecting Manawatu¯ and central Tararua districts has the potential to alter the way people get across the island from Wellington, Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay and Rangitı¯kei.
The two current winding and narrow options over the Pahiatua Track or the Saddle Rd, and previously the Gorge Rd, have never been particularly appealing for trucks, bikes or general motorists.
The new SH3 Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatu¯ Tararua Highway that straddles the lower Ruahine Range promises to make that transition between districts a lot less arduous, but there may be unintended consequences.
With Transmission Gully on SH1 not far from completion and further works intended for the
taki Expressway, travellers and freight between Hawke’s Bay and Wellington may bypass SH2 and Wairarapa altogether.
The Environment Court gave approval to proceed with the 11.5km Te Ahu a Turanga south of the present Saddle Rd last week.
It would take traffic from SH3 west of Woodville to Stoney Creek Rd on the western side of the Manawatu¯ Gorge.
The road will have a maximum gradient of 10 per cent and is expected to take 12 minutes to travel.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency owner interface manager Lonnie Dalzell said a major benefit of the new highway was it would be a much shorter journey time than Saddle Rd and Pahiatua Track. They predicted around 8500 vehicles would use it every day in the opening year.
Construction was due to begin in January and was expected to be completed sometime in 2024.
Nick Leggett of the Road Transport Forum said this was a ‘‘very important part of New Zealand that had been under-specced in terms of its roading developments’’.
‘‘We’re very positive about this project as it’s a vital east-west link because you’ve got a food basket in the Hawke’s Bay, important primary industry in the Wairarapa, and a freight hub in the Manawatu¯,’’ he said. ‘‘Then you go south to the big market in Wellington and the South Island ferry.’’
Leggett said the closure of the Manawatu¯ Gorge four years ago changed freight operators’ choices for how they connect to the big markets, and this project would do the same. With improvements on the west coast, such as Transmission Gully and the taki Expressway along SH1, it could divert traffic away from SH2 south through Wairarapa and over the Remutaka Hill Rd.
‘‘This will open up opportunities and improve resilience,’’ Leggett said.
Businessman Kevin Ashwell of the Woodville Mart said the town would ‘‘definitely be busier’’ once the new highway was complete.
Easier access to Palmerston North would mean more people coming to live in Woodville and commuting to the city. ‘‘It’s no further than driving from the Hutt to Wellington.’’
He expected less Hawke’s Bay traffic would divert through Wairarapa.
‘‘Once the new road’s built it will probably be quicker to go down the other way and take out the Remutakas.’’