The National Road Carriers Association (NRC) is welcoming the opening of the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway.
The 15km four-lane highway was opened by transport minister Phil Twyford with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII on February 14.
It includes side and central safety barriers and takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams and over Taupiri Range, which is sacred to Waikato-Tainui.
“The Huntly bypass will speed up travel and delivery times, improve productivity, reduce emissions and be safer,” NRC chief executive David Aitken says.
“This is the first motorway link between two New Zealand cities. For the first time it will be possible to go from Auckland to Hamilton on a motorway/expressway.”
Aitken says the bypass will take high traffic volumes away from Huntly, making the town safer for residents. It will also take traffic away from the sacred Taupiri mountain.
NRC is also praising the NZ Transport Agency and its contractors for building the bypass with minimal disruption to State Highway 1 users.
The Huntly section is part of the 102km four-laning of SH1 from Bombay to south of Cambridge, which will be completed when the 22km Hamilton section opens in late 2021.
Once completed, the Waikato Expressway is expected to reduce travel times by 35 minutes between the Bombay Hills and south of Cambridge.
Meanwhile, Aitken is also welcoming a statement by National Party leader Simon Bridges saying a National Government would bring forward four-laning of State Highway 1 between Whangārei and Auckland.
Speaking at the Northland Field Days in Dargaville, Bridges said National had signalled the work before the 2017 election but shortly after being elected the coalition Government put the plan on the back-burner.
Aitken says the four-laning of SH1 in Northland will open up the north economically, improve productivity and create safer roads. New four lane roads have significantly decreased road accidents, injuries and fatalities, he says.
