Sneak peek at new section of expressway
It’s just a matter of weeks before commuters will be whizzing down a new stretch of State Highway 1 bypassing Hamilton – marking the completion of the more than decade-long Waikato Expressway project.
A handful of media including
Stuff were given a sneak peek of the 22km final section.
Donning hi-vis at the Ruakura headquarters yesterday it was onto the bus to drive to the start of the Tamahere section, to turn around and drive the near full length of the new section.
Waka Kotahi’s regional manager infrastructure delivery
Waikato, Jo Wilton, was tour guide – she’s been on the project for the past eight years and has the finish line in her sight.
‘‘There’s that little bit of excitement that it is coming to end . . . There’s a little bit of disbelief that we are going to get traffic on it which is weeks away, not months.
‘‘But it’s mostly pride when I look at what we’ve achieved, what it looks like and what it will do.’’
The road offers a rather scenic drive through the city’s gully systems – Mangaharakeke, Mangaone and Mangaonua gullies – which Waka Kotahi has done a lot of restoration work on by putting in natives plants and removing weeds.
‘‘There have been over 860,000 plants on the project,’’ points out Wilton.
They also ensured the safety of native lizards and bats, by rehoming them until they could be returned to the gullies.
The first stop is just after Morrinsville Rd.
Braving the icy weather, it was an eerie feeling stepping off the bus and walking into the middle of what will be State Highway 1 in a matter of weeks.
The road was quiet, the noise only from the chatter of those on the tour and the clicking of the cameras where soon will be the roar of the nation’s busiest road.
A few work crews were scattered around putting on what looks to be finishing touches. High-vis and vehicles’ flashing lights added colour to the kilometres of black and white asphalt.
Back on the bus to the Greenhill interchange and, like a tasty morsel to cockroaches, the attraction of the area for boy racers was obvious. Their wheel spin marks sullied the taxpayers’ otherwise pristine tar seal.
There are 16 bridges and a large underpass along the Hamilton section – 15 of those are concrete and one a steel bridge – the tallest is Kay Rd which is 18.8 metres above ground and the longest is Mangaonua at 150m long.
Wilton said the Hamilton section opening will provide a full connection from the Bombay Hills to the south end of Cambridge heading towards Tīrau.
‘‘It will give that 35 minute travel time saving, it’s a really, really safe corridor. It takes the traffic away from inner city streets.’’
It means an Auckland to
Cambridge commute can avoid Hamilton altogether.
The bus trip continued up the expressway, passing artwork on the splayed abutment symbolising Matariki with its seven stars, the ancient kumara pits that were discovered on the site and the awa (river).
The final stop on the tour was the Resolution Dr interchange at one of the city’s northern-most points– the sign points to Auckland, and the road disappears into the distance.
Wilton admits there have been challenges during the build. Fairly early on workers battled wet summers during prime earthworks season. Three cyclones in three weeks was one of the reasons the initial finish date was first pushed out.
‘‘Then subsequent iron ochres were found at Ruakura. There was about 800m where the concentration was more than what we had ever encountered before . . . it meant we had to change our design to deal with it, to raise the alignment by 800mm.
‘‘And then, of course, there has been the Covid.’’ The $837 million project, which began with a sod-turning in March 2016, is scheduled to be blessed on July 12 and the road to be open to the public ‘‘very shortly after’’.
Wilton said they never give an exact date and time of when the road will open because after the official blessing the road is checked that it’s tidy and safe.
‘‘It then takes a bit of traffic management coordination to then lift all the various areas and get them open. So we don’t give time because we essentially don’t want a queue of traffic parked up waiting for us to open the gate.’’
The expressway is designed for a 110kph speed limit but it hasn’t been confirmed – it’s going through the gazetting process – with Wilton expecting the decision will be made before the opening.