{"id":621088,"date":"2026-10-05T08:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/621088\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T08:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:36:09","slug":"woodend-bypass-waimakariri-mayor-dan-gordon-pushes-for-toll-free-project-and-timetable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/621088\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodend bypass: Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon pushes for toll-free project and timetable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Waimakariri District Mayor Dan Gordon said the community had advocated for the Woodend bypass for many years \u2013 and they would be pushing for the project to go ahead without tolling road users.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains a critical infrastructure priority to improve safety, reduce congestion, and support North Canterbury\u2019s economic growth,\u201d Gordon said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased to see that progressing this project remains a priority for the Government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon said he had contacted Transport Minister Chris Bishop earlier this year, \u201cseeking clarity on funding, delivery, and whether tolling will be part of the proposal\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur project remains on strongly advocating for secured funding without tolling and a clear delivery timetable for our residents,\u201d Gordon said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to push for the project working with whichever government is elected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WaimakaririWaimakariri District Mayor Dan Gordon said the community had advocated for the Woodend bypass for many years.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Bishop pointed to the congestion and safety concerns associated with the current routes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSH1 approaching Woodend already carries around 21,500 vehicles a day, around 9% of them freight, and that is expected to increase to around 28,000 vehicles a day by 2048.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt peak times it can take up to 20 minutes to travel through the town, while heavy through-traffic makes it harder for locals to access shops, schools and other parts of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is also a significant safety problem. Between 2014 and 2023 there were 280 crashes on SH1 through Woodend, including three fatalities and 25 serious injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TransportTransport Minister Chris Bishop said $800 million would be devoted to the project in next year\u2019s Budget if National was re-elected. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

He cited an estimate from NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) that suggested the project would save motorists up to 10 minutes of travel time, reduce traffic through Woodend from about 21,500 vehicles a day to 8000, and reduce deaths and serious injuries by 78%.<\/p>\n

Bishop said $800m would be devoted to the project in next year\u2019s Budget if National was re-elected. He said construction would begin next year.<\/p>\n

MP for Waimakariri, Matt Doocey, described today\u2019s announcement as a \u201chuge win for the community\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy phone hasn\u2019t stopped ringing from local residents very excited to hear the [Prime Minister] on the news announce the Woodend Bypass will be fully funded under a National Government,\u201d the National MP said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s] a huge win for the community who have fought hard for the Woodend Bypass ever since Labour cancelled it in 2018. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think of the public rally I organised in 2020, the petition I took to Parliament and the public meetings to hear from residents about their safety concerns \u2013 but it\u2019s all paid off with today\u2019s announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WaimakaririWaimakariri MP Matt Doocey said his phone hasn\u2019t stopped ringing since National today promised $800 million in the next Budget to fund the bypass. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

In July, the project became the 27th project<\/a> approved through the Government\u2019s fast-track process and the second roading project to receive approval.<\/p>\n

NZTA applied in December last year, with approval taking about four months after the appointment of an independent expert panel.<\/p>\n

At the time, 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

\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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Waimakariri District Mayor Dan Gordon said the community had advocated for the Woodend bypass for many years \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[119774,3017,2851,95,76546,8126,3470,13842,31143,7557,18321,2082,71,40370,266,42,5420,10934,3945,43,529,3263,18661,312,40249,102337,305705,159995,40,38,41,39,10037,6123,1339,305704],"class_list":["post-621088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-advocating","tag-ahead","tag-also","tag-and","tag-bypass","tag-canterbury","tag-clear","tag-dan","tag-delivery","tag-district","tag-extension","tag-for","tag-from","tag-gordon","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-hes","tag-mayor","tag-motorway","tag-news","tag-north","tag-project","tag-pushes","tag-says","tag-seeking","tag-timetable","tag-tollfree","tag-tolling","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-waimakariri","tag-while","tag-without","tag-woodend"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621088","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=621088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}