A community drop-in session for the public to learn more about the project will be held on November 13 at the Greenmeadows East Main Hall in Tait Drive.<\/p>\n
The Government last week announced updated costings for six of 17 Roads of National Significance projects elsewhere, and approval of $1.2 billion for early design, consenting and property acquisition works on some of the highways.<\/p>\n
According to Newsroom, figures show a $5.1b \u201cblowout\u201d in the expected combined costs across all of the projects.<\/p>\n
Automobile Association Hawke\u2019s Bay chairman David Murray said the investments in the Hawke\u2019s Bay projects are a \u201cshot in the arm\u201d for the region.<\/p>\n
The suggested nationwide blowout didn\u2019t surprise him \u2013 \u201cbecause things do cost more going forward\u201d \u2013 but he hopes it doesn\u2019t mean the Hawke\u2019s Bay projects would be pushed back in any way.<\/p>\n
The Tutaekuru Bridge bottleneck on a hot Friday afternoon, a feature of Hawke’s Bay Expressway motoring that could become driving as normal once the four-laning is completed. Photo \/ Doug Laing<\/p>\n
He said projects such as the Waikare Gorge realignment often had problems gaining approval, because they don\u2019t have the high traffic flow of other sites further north and in the Wellington region.<\/p>\n
But they do have the crucial need of access to a major food-supplying region and community, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese critical projects are an investment in our people and economy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bay has a growing population, it will allow people to get to where they need to go, and for produce and goods to reach the port and markets.\u201d <\/p>\n
The expressway improvements bring four lanes to a particularly congested part of the highway, a flyover to the Pakowhai Rd\/Links Rd roundabout enabling faster and safer travel between Napier and Hastings, and better access to the airport and Napier Port.<\/p>\n
He said the expressway \u201cbecomes a serious bottleneck at times\u201d, and the vulnerability of the road to Wairoa was shown when the Waikare bridge was destroyed in Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.<\/p>\n
Lengthy detours via the central North Island were needed for three months before the first temporary bridge was opened. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlong with a new bridge, the road will be realigned to make it less prone to slip disruption,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a rough few years following the pandemic and then the cyclone,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re very happy to have these projects on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
NZTA says tenders for the Waikare project design and construct contract, including a 4km deviation and a two-lane, 160-metre bridge over the Waikare Gorge, close in December.<\/p>\n
It says that following appointment of a contractor, it will be able to confirm a start date for construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be next year, pending property acquisition,\u201d the NZTA told Hawke\u2019s Bay Today, reaffirming construction will take about four years.<\/p>\n
The realignment was first mooted over 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
But a preferred route, bypassing the township of Putorino and the nearby gorge bridge site (with a now-temporary bridge in place) was not approved until 2019, propelled by the adoption two years earlier of the Tair\u0101whiti Programme Business Case.<\/p>\n