{"id":549498,"date":"2026-07-29T11:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/549498\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:39:09","slug":"state-highway-1-north-canterbury-upgrade-gets-fast-track-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/549498\/","title":{"rendered":"State Highway 1 North Canterbury upgrade gets fast-track approval"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cSH1 approaching Woodend currently carries around 21,500 vehicles a day, including around 9% freight. With traffic volumes expected to grow to around 28,000 vehicles a day by 2048, the new road will improve safety, reduce congestion, unlock housing growth and support economic development,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">He said the project was also expected to reduce predicted deaths and serious injuries from 5.6 a year to 1.25 a year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">The independent expert panel found the project\u2019s effects on transport, ecology, stormwater and flooding could be managed through consent conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">Those conditions include construction, traffic and ecological management plans, ongoing monitoring and the creation of a new wetland to offset habitat loss.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">Ministry of Transport principal adviser Chris Jones said the project would unlock housing and urban development opportunities in the Woodend, Ravenswood and Pegasus townships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cNorth Canterbury has seen significant residential and commercial expansion and the Waimakariri District has emerged as one of the fastest-growing local authorities in New Zealand,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey welcomed the approval, saying the project would deliver more reliable travel times and improve safety for commuters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cAs local MP I\u2019m a big advocate for this roading project as I know it will deliver more reliable travel times and improve safety for Waimakariri commuters,\u201d Doocey said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">He said the Government had \u201ctaken significant action\u201d on the project over the past two and a half years, including land acquisitions, provisional consents, design work, early implementation work and $127 million in funding.<\/p>\n<p>Fast-track by the numbers<\/p>\n<p>27 projects approved by expert panels.19 projects with expert panels appointed.58 projects are progressing through the fast-track process (29 substantive applications and 29 referral applications).56 projects have been referred to fast-tracking by the Minister for Infrastructure.149 projects are listed in Schedule 2 of the Fast-track Approvals Act and can apply for fast-track approval.The average decision time for substantive applications is 118 working days from when officials determine an application is complete and in scope.<\/p>\n<p>Projects approved by expert panels<\/p>\n<p>Arataki, Hawke\u2019s Bay (housing\/land)Ashbourne, Matamata (housing\/land)Ayrburn Screen Hub, Otago (infrastructure)Green Steel, Hampton Downs, Waikato (infrastructure)Homestead Bay, Otago (housing\/land)Bledisloe North Wharf and Fergusson North Berth Extension, Auckland (infrastructure)Drury Metropolitan Centre, South Auckland \u2013 Consolidated Stages 1 and 2 (housing\/land)Drury Quarry Expansion, South Auckland \u2013 Sutton Block (mining\/quarrying)Kings Quarry Expansion \u2013 Stages 2 and 3, Wainui, Auckland (mining\/quarrying)Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme (renewable energy)Lake P\u016bkaki Hydro Storage and Dam Resilience Works (renewable energy)M\u0101hinerangi Wind Farm, Otago (renewable energy)Maitahi Village, Nelson (housing\/land)Milldale \u2013 Stages 4C and 10 to 13, Wainui, Auckland (housing\/land)The Point Mission Bay (housing\/land)Pound Rd, Christchurch (housing\/land)Rangitoopuni, Riverhead, Auckland (housing\/land)Ryans Rd, Christchurch (housing\/land)Southland Wind Farm Project (renewable energy)SH1 North Canterbury \u2013 Woodend Bypass Project (Belfast to Pegasus) (infrastructure)Sunfield, South Auckland (housing\/land)Tekapo Power Scheme \u2013 Replacement Resource Consents (renewable energy)Takitimu North Link \u2013 Stage 2, Bay of Plenty (infrastructure)Waih\u012b North (mining\/quarrying)Waitaha Hydro, West Coast (renewable energy)Wait\u0101kere District Court \u2013 New Courthouse Project (infrastructure)Wellington International Airport Southern Seawall Renewal (infrastructure)<\/p>\n<p>Projects with expert panels appointed<\/p>\n<p>188 Beaumont St, Auckland CentralAlternative to the Brynderwyn HillsAuckland Prison Capacity IncreaseBendigo-Ophir Gold ProjectBream Bay Sand Extraction Project, NorthlandCentral and Southern Block Mining ProjectDelmore, \u014crewaDowntown Carpark Site Development, AucklandFoxton Solar Farm, Manawat\u016b-WhanganuiHaldon Solar Farm, CanterburyHananui Aquaculture Project, RakiuraHunua Quarry DevelopmentMt Iron Junction, W\u0101nakaMt Welcome, Pukerua Bay, PoriruaNorthwest Rapid Transit, AucklandSouthern Link Inland Port, OtagoStella Passage Development, Bay of PlentyThe Point Solar Farm, CanterburyWaikanae North Development, K\u0101piti Coast<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">Ben Tomsett is a journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSH1 approaching Woodend currently carries around 21,500 vehicles a day, including around 9% freight. With traffic volumes expected&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12796,1558,8126,24572,6276,19196,42,26755,661,43,529,13672,40,38,41,39,14043],"class_list":["post-549498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-approval","tag-been","tag-canterbury","tag-fasttrack","tag-gets","tag-granted","tag-headlines","tag-highway","tag-major","tag-news","tag-north","tag-state","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-upgrade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549498","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=549498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}