Further delay to expressway
Another delay has been confirmed for the Peka Peka to O¯ taki expressway north of Wellington, with the 13-kilometre road now due to open late next year.
The four-lane highway, which will form part of Wellington’s northern corridor, was originally scheduled to open last year.
The opening date was later pushed back to early 2021 following the addition of a shared cycleway and walkway, then delayed again by several months because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said in a statement yesterday that the latest estimated opening date was now late next year.
‘‘As we get closer to completion, we will have more certainty about a specific opening date and how the new road will change people’s journeys throughout the region,’’ said the agency’s infrastructure delivery general manager, Andrew Thackwray.
‘‘We thank the community for their ongoing support while construction continues.’’
When completed, the $405 million Peka Peka to O taki expressway (PP2O ) will form part of a four-lane expressway from the Ka piti Coast to Levin.
It will join up with the Kapiti expressway to the south, between MacKays and Peka Peka, and a planned O taki to north of Levin expressway in the north, due to open in 2029.
The road will also connect to the 27km Transmission Gully motorway, between north Wellington and Paekakariki, which is scheduled to open in September.
Waka Kotahi said the expressway was one of the first major projects to resume construction following the alert level 4 lockdown last year.
But the disruption, along with other design changes such as the shared pathway and upgrades to the road pavement and surface, had put the project behind schedule.
‘‘PP2O¯ is an extremely complex infrastructure project, with constantly changing demands,’’ Thackwray said.
‘‘It is going to be a fantastic addition to the state highway network in the Wellington region, and we know how much the community is looking forward to using it.’’
The project has involved constructing 10 bridges and almost 9km of local roads, realigning a 1.3km section of the North Island main trunk line, as well as managing geotechnical ground conditions and cultural and heritage considerations.
It will provide better safety, more reliable travel times, and reduce congestion at major chokepoints such as O¯ taki, the agency said.
‘‘As we get closer to completion, we will have more certainty about a specific opening date . . . PP2O ¯ is an extremely complex infrastructure project.’’ Andrew Thackwray
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency