New Zealand’s newest stretch of state highway – the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) – will open to traffic on Monday August 3, five months ahead of schedule according the New Zealand Transport Agency.
The $455 million NZTA project took more than four years to construct 21 kilometres of four-lane, median divided highway which runs from Te Maunga in Tauranga through to the new Paengaroa roundabout, which replaces the former junction of the Rotorua and Whakatane highways.
The project involved 550,000 square metres of new road, more than three million cubic metres of earthworks and saw seven new bridges built. All up there were more than 1.5 million hours worked.
New intersections have been constructed for Sandhurst Drive, Domain Road, and Paengaroa junction (SH2/33), along with a new overbridge for Parton Road, and underpass for Maketu Road.
The Transport Agency’s Waikato/ Bay of Plenty regional director, Harry Wilson, says the new road bring many social benefits and opening up further economic opportunities in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. It will also provide more predictable travel times, which is critical to business attraction and growth.
“The Tauranga Eastern Link has been designed to support the growth of the Bay of Plenty, reduce travel times and improve safety,” he says.
“It will be a strong anchor to support managed land use in a planned and sensible progression in this region.”
The TEL brings the East Cape and the central North Island closer to the Port of Tauranga.
“The road shaves off around 12 minutes when compared to the old route, which means some freight operators will be able to complete an extra trip each day,” says Wilson.
“The new road will also significantly improve safety, reducing the amount of death and serious injury crashes in the region.”
The TEL boasts a shared 6.8 kilometres long walking and cycle path, more than 300,000 native plants and two large scale public artworks.
As with all projects of this size there have been some challenges along the way, such as the unexpected fire at the Domain Road interchange in November 2014, but Wilson says the TEL project team quickly recovered from that setback.
“The TEL project team, made up of Fulton Hogan HEB Construction Alliance (FHHCA), the Transport Agency and Beca, tackled all of the challenges head on,” he says.
“Their hard work and dedication has ensured we finished construction five months ahead of schedule.”
