{"id":453580,"date":"2026-05-31T04:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/453580\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T04:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:04:09","slug":"waikato-expressway-extension-ministers-visit-future-site-of-cambridge-to-piarere-section-of-1-77b-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/453580\/","title":{"rendered":"Waikato Expressway extension: Ministers visit future site of Cambridge to Piarere section of $1.77b road"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cState Highway 1 between Cambridge and Piarere is a critical freight and economic link connecting Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty with the central and lower North Island,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project has been talked about for years. Now we\u2019re getting on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Government says the new expressway, combined with recently completed safety improvements on SH1, is expected to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the route by around 70%.<\/p>\n

The project will include a grade-separated interchange near Kar\u0101piro Rd, four bridges and median and roadside safety barriers along the route.<\/p>\n

Bishop said years of planning work had been required before the project could move to construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople sometimes think you can just start building a road tomorrow. You can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WaikatoWaikato MP Tim van de Molen (from left), Transport Minister Chris Bishop, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Taup\u014d MP Louise Upston at the Cambridge to Piarere Road of National Significance site near Kar\u0101piro on Sunday. Photo \/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n

Bishop said extensive work, including business cases, property acquisition, designations and resource consenting, had to be completed before construction could get under way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an enormous amount of work that has to happen. All of that stuff takes time before you can start turning a sod.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consents for the project were granted in September 2025 and early works approved by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) in December are already underway.<\/p>\n

Major construction is expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027.<\/p>\n

Taup\u014d MP Louise Upston said she had spent years campaigning for the project after National lost power in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started a petition. We started activating the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Upston said the Cambridge to Piarere section was the logical next stage of the expressway, because it catered for traffic travelling south on State Highway 1 and east towards Tauranga and Bay of Plenty.<\/p>\n

As passing motorists sounded their horns while driving past the site visit, Upston pointed to the support the project continued to enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe toots say it all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bishop said the project was a key part of improving connections through the so-called Golden Triangle between Auckland, Waikato and Tauranga.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Golden Triangle between Auckland, Waikato and Tauranga is home to more than half of New Zealand\u2019s population and around 60% of the country\u2019s gross domestic product,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis corridor is critical to New Zealand\u2019s economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Government says the Cambridge to Piarere project has a benefit-cost ratio of between 2.7 and 3.1.<\/p>\n

\"WaikatoWaikato Chamber of Commerce chief executive Don Good says improved transport links help drive economic growth across the region. Photo \/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n

Waikato Chamber of Commerce chief executive Don Good said improved arterial routes had historically supported growth in surrounding communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we always find with arterial routes, that brings prosperity to people around it,\u201d Good said.<\/p>\n

The Government said the project was the next major Road of National Significance to receive funding following the start of construction on the \u014ctaki to north of Levin and Hawke\u2019s Bay Expressway projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government is getting on with building the roads in our long-term infrastructure pipeline to redress New Zealand\u2019s infrastructure deficit and support jobs, productivity and growth across the country,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n

Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. Before he joined the Hamilton-based team, he worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive. He previously worked as a journalist at Black Press Media in Canada and won a fellowship with the Vancouver Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cState Highway 1 between Cambridge and Piarere is a critical freight and economic link connecting Auckland, Waikato and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[87154,230698,74,8613,16659,380,38121,18321,1888,738,3273,266,42,42677,130,43,1118,25528,29056,1314,14777,34742,1857,131,61,40,38,41,39,9863,1524],"class_list":["post-453580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-87154","tag-177b","tag-after","tag-billion","tag-cambridge","tag-decade","tag-expressway","tag-extension","tag-first","tag-funding","tag-future","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-ministers","tag-more","tag-news","tag-of","tag-piarere","tag-proposed","tag-road","tag-section","tag-secured","tag-site","tag-than","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-visit","tag-waikato"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}