Waikare Gorge highway realignment plans pass crucial consent milestone

Work to realign State Highway 2 around the Waikare Gorge should start early next year with the milestone approval of land use and bridge plans for the diversion midway between Napier and Wairoa.

Applications were lodged by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the Hastings and Wairoa district councils in 2023.

No objections were lodged by the March 2024 deadline, and the regional council council expected formal approval, including resource consent, to be granted by the end of July.

Logging trucks crossing the one-way temporary Waikare River Bailey bridge which is now likely to have been in place more than three years by the time the State Highway 2 Waikare Gorge realignment is completed. Photo / Doug Laing

The regional council issued the consents for the new bridge and associated realignment last month.

A spokesperson said with the applicant’s agreement, processing timeframes were extended until the district council designation process was complete and “draft conditions of consent could be worked through and finalised”.

The district councils have consented changes enabling farmland to be used for the road on the near-4km route announced four years ago bypassing the gorge and the southern-approach township of Putorino.

NZTA senior project manager Chris Mahoney said once property agreements had been finalised, NZTA would be looking to bring forward early enabling works.

In the past fortnight, a tender process ended with Beca and Stantec appointed to a joint ‘Principal’s Technical Advisor’ (PTA) role and the Design and Construct (D&C) contract will be awarded via a tender process later this year.

“As much as possible, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi will be working with local contractors, supporting the local economy, while also accommodating the area’s planned growth and ultimately increasing reliability and efficiency for freight and other road users,” Mahoney said.

The priority was to see construction under way as soon as possible.

A funding green light was announced by Government in February, and Mahoney said this week: “At this stage, we are on track to begin main on-site construction of the realignment early next year.”

There is expected to be little disruption to traffic during the construction, which is mainly off the current highway and includes a bridge over the gorge.

The road through the gorge was closed for three months in 2023 after the Waikare River bridge was destroyed in Cyclone Gabrielle, with no suitable detour.

A one-lane temporary Bailey bridge was opened the following May and has now been in use for almost two years.

With a cost estimated by Minister of Transport Chris Bishop in February at possibly up to $425 million, it will be the most costly highway project ever in Hawke’s Bay.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.