Children draw plans for new highway
The new Manawatu¯ Gorge replacement highway Te Ahu a Turanga will be more than just a road if the NZ Transport Agency picks up ideas from local school children.
Foam pits, giant slides, dinosaur statues and a fish and chip shop feature among suggestions from children at 10 schools who entered a drawing competition showing what they would like to see beside the highway.
Project manager Lonnie Dalzell said the agency wanted to keep in touch with the people in the community about its plans and progress on the project.
‘‘This was a fun opportunity for the Transport Agency to connect with the community and to give students a behind-the-scenes look at what is happening.
‘‘I was really impressed by the students and their ideas too.’’
Some of the children were keen to be allowed to make site visits to see what was happening.
Dalzell said it was exciting to think that some of the students who drew the pictures would be old enough to drive by the time the road was open in 2024.
‘‘The project may even inspire them to join the Transport Agency or a related industry one day.’’
Papatawa School principal Wynita Katene said the students were fascinated about the environmental aspects of the project.
‘‘It was really nice to have someone from the Transport Agency come and talk to our children about what’s happening in their region.
‘‘It gave them an understanding about the scale of the project and the jobs that need to be completed before the road can open.’’
The new road would snake across the Ruahine Ranges to the north of the Manawatu¯ Gorge road, which closed in April, 2017, after landslips.
A consortium called ‘‘Advance’’, made up of Fulton Hogan, HEB Construction, Aurecon and WSPOPUS has been chosen to build the $620 million replacement for the mothballed highway.