Roading projects to get under way

Asbestos has been safely removed from the Maungatapu roundabout.

Almost $150m in major roading projects are being started in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty this year.

Work being carried out this year by the New Zealand Transport Agency include the Baypark to Bayfair flyovers (known as B2B), the Maungatapu Underpass, the construction of an overbridge near the Poike Rd roundabout, which was announced last week, and construction of a roundabout at Te Puna.

These works had either already begun or were due to begin by June.

Bay of Plenty acting highways manager Chris Young said work on the B2B project had begun, with works to prepare the site for the relocation of the railway line beginning at the end of last year.

These works were due to be completed later this year.

Mr Young said the team was working in the Omanu Golf Course. These works would cost $102 million, ready for the main works to begin next year.

The other large project for the region is the Maungatapu Underpass. Mr Young said the underpass' western bridge was almost completed.

The new walkway would open this week and the asbestos removal near the old Baden Powell Centre had been completed.

Mr Young said the underpass was on track for completion in early 2018, at a cost of $45 million.

Coming up soon will be the works to build a roundabout on State Highway at the intersection with Minden Rd and Te Puna Rd.

Mr Young said preliminary works for the roundabout were due to begin in April or May, with the main works getting underway in the 2016/2017 construction season.

The roundabout would cost $6 million.

Announced on Friday, a new overbridge for pedestrians and cyclists would be built across State Highway 29 near the Poike Rd roundabout, planned to cater for growth in that part of Tauranga and to encourage Bay of Plenty Polytechnic students to get on their bikes.

The bridge's construction was expected to begin in April or May at a cost of $1.8 million.