Manawatu¯-Tararua highway plan may change route choices

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 Rangitikei.

The two current winding and narrow options over the Pahı¯atua Track or the Saddle Rd, and previously the Gorge Rd, have never been particularly appealing for trucks, bikes or even general motorists.

The new SH3 Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatu¯ Tararua Highway that straddles the lower Ruahine Range promised 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 O¯ 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 Pahı¯atua

Track. They predicted there would be around 8500 vehicles using it a day in the opening year.

Construction was to begin in January and was expected to be completed in 2024.

Nick Leggett, of the Road Transport Forum, said the Environment Court sign-off last week was great news.

He 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.’’

He 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 O¯ taki Expressway along SH1, it could divert traffic away from SH2 south through Wairarapa and over the Remutaka Hill Rd.

‘‘Road transporters make the most efficient choice in terms of the route they take. This will open up opportunities and improve resilience,’’ Leggett said.

Local 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. ‘‘With a new road, it’s a real option for people to live out of town. It’s no further than driving from the Hutt to Wellington.’’