Expressway extension in the slow lane
The handbrake has been put on plans to extend the Waikato Expressway south of Cambridge, with no funding expected for up to a decade.
With the recent addition of the Hamilton section, the expressway is now a four-lane stretch of State Highway 1 from Cambridge to the Bombays.
There have been numerous calls to extend it through to Piarere, given the dangerous nature of this section of road.
However, with the Government’s focus on light rail, it is unlikely more large roading infrastructure projects such as Transmission
Gully and Waikato Expressway will be seen any time soon.
However, Waka Kotahi is proposing a 16km four-lane expressway from the southern end of the Cambridge section to the intersection of SH29/1 at Piarere.
Regional manager of system design Jessica Andrew said the agency had a preferred option, had spoken with landowners and would be talking to the community later in the year.
‘‘The next stage is to complete the design. We are going to go for route protection and Resource Management Act. That also triggers the ability for landowners who want to ask us to purchase their property.’’
Andrew said Waka Kotahi would be buying some properties along the proposed roadway. ‘‘There is no funding for construction at the moment, so it is forecast for construction funding after 2027.’’
In the meantime, Waka Kotahi was getting things ready so it would be a quick move to construction whenever the funding became available. It was hoped it would take about five years or less to construct.
‘‘There is a bit of work to be done before we can give a confirmed timeframe.’’
The current preferred alignment was for the new road to run offline to the north, further away from the river where it currently was,’’ Andrew said.
‘‘The proposed new road will join where the SH29/SH1 intersection will become the tie-in for Cambridge to Piarere at the point it is built. So it will enable it to stay there once we do that broader upgrade.’’
Prior to the change of government in
2017, Cambridge to Piarere was funded for construction. ‘‘We were having active conversations with those landowners to purchase the land and progress the full way through to construction.
‘‘So when the government priority statement changed following the change of government – those were put on hold at that point.
‘‘We pulled back with conversations with landowners. It was paused for a while, and then about two years ago we were able to secure further funding to finish the business case and start the route protection process.’’
Andrew acknowledged the stretch of road was of high priority, hence the safety measures being installed.
National Party transport spokesman and MP Simeon Brown said it was more likely there was no funding in the next 10 years, after he asked the question at a select committee in June. He said this was a result of Labour’s decision in 2017 to ‘‘gut the national land transport fund’’ for state highway improvement.
‘‘We have seen a significant number of large projects across New Zealand be cancelled, whether it be Cambridge to Piarere, Mill Rd in Auckland, the Tauranga Northern Link, which they cancelled, and now they are half building.’’
Brown said the Waikato Expressway had really opened up the Waikato. It was faster, safer and reliable, he said.
He would not say if National would commit to getting the road built should the party be elected to govern next year.
‘‘We are certainly looking at how we can rebalance the national land transport fund, so it is able to invest in the infrastructure that New Zealanders need.’’
A Labour Party spokesperson said the Government was committed to supporting the effective movement of people and freight around the Waikato.
‘‘However, not every large-scale project can be funded or delivered immediately, so there is a need to prioritise to ensure the best outcomes are delivered from across the programme. Significant safety improvements are being made to the existing highway between Cambridge and Piarere as part of our Road to Zero road safety strategy.’’