By Scott MacLeod and Ken Lewis
Motorists in the central North Island can look forward to straighter, safer and more extensively sealed roads as a result of a big cash boost from the Government.
The transport body Transfund said yesterday that more than $160 million would be spent on Waikato and Bay of Plenty roads in the coming year.
Waikato black spots, Coromandel's gravel roads and an arterial route through Rotorua would all benefit.
The money is part of $930 million allocated by Transfund for construction and maintenance of roads through the National Roading Programme. The figure includes $55 million for Northland.
The Transfund regional engineer, Cambell Snook, said major Waikato-Bay of Plenty projects to get cash included: sealing State Highway 25 between Whitianga and Coromandel ($5.24 million); sealing other roads between Coromandel and Waitomo ($2.2 million); four-laning Old Taupo Rd through Rotorua ($3.15 million); re-routing slip-ravaged parts of State Highway 3 at Awakino ($2.4 million); fixing black spots at Te Ngae Rd on State Highway 30 ($2.4 million); extending Wairere Drive in Hamilton ($1.56 million); and widening narrow roads in six parts of the Waikato ($1 million).
Mr Snook said he expected both regions would get more cash later in the year as other big projects became eligible for finance, including $56.6 million for two sections of the proposed Auckland-Cambridge expressway.
One 10.5km stretch, from Mercer to Long Swamp, is poorly aligned and has a high accident rate. The cost of re-routing the road will be $42.1 million.
The other section, a 6km bypass of Ohinewai, will cost $14.5 million.
Waikato's haul is 9.5 per cent more than last year's, and the Bay of Plenty's is up 5 per cent.
The Mayor of Thames-Coromandel, Chris Lux, said many tourists had trouble with gravel roads in his area. The cash given for sealing roads would encourage them to return.
Transfund will also spend more than $55 million in the coming year on Northland roads.
Of the $55.47 million Northland share, $15 million will be spent on new projects, with $6.24 million allocated for the long-awaited Kamo bypass.
The three-year Kamo project will reduce travel times and take State Highway 1 traffic, including logging and cattle trucks, out of the Kamo shopping centre and away from schools.
Other new projects include: sealing of the Wainui to Matauri Bay road; parts of the coastal route between Kerikeri and Kaeo; the Tangowahine Valley and Murray Rd route between Kaipara and Kaikohe; and 24km of seal extensions around Whangarei.
More than 71 per cent of the money - $39.61 million - will be spent on maintenance of the region's state highways and local roads to ensure they are maintained at present standards.
Northland RoadSafe coordinator Bill Rossiter said the news vindicated the work by that organisation, police and local authorities to highlight the region's problems.
The chance of becoming a road accident victim is greater in Northland than anywhere else.
The Transfund announcement has also been welcomed as a big boost for tourism in the region.
Grant Woolliams, of Destination Northland, said upgrading of Northland roads would bring big economic rewards, especially along tourist routes such as the new Twin Coast Discovery Highway.
Regions on the road to safer driving
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