A boy and his bike on State Highway 2's Matahorua Bridge just before it opened in 2011. Now it's time for the Waikare Gorge to get some work. Photo / File
A boy and his bike on State Highway 2's Matahorua Bridge just before it opened in 2011. Now it's time for the Waikare Gorge to get some work. Photo / File
The biggest project on State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa in a decade has been given a big boost with $5 million worth of funding for what highways management agency Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says is "pre-implementation" work.
The agency says it will soon begin the next phaseof the Waikare Gorge safety realignment project, on which it is currently finalising a preferred route option.
Options were discussed at a public meeting last November and planning is under way for the biggest job on the 116km since the opening of the $26m Matahorua realignment and bridge in 2011.
Senior project manager Rob Partridge says the support from the Government's Provincial Growth Fund helps the agency to get the project ready for construction, including land purchase, consents, designation of the route, design and detailed geotechnical investigation.
A business case being completed investigates preferred alignment options and how improved access and resilience of Waikare Gorge will help unlock the economic potential of Wairoa and the Tairawhiti region further to the northeast.
"Whenever a section of State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Napier is closed, for whatever reason, it has a big impact on the ability of people to access services in Napier," Partridge says.
"The detour at Waikare Gorge is long and arduous, so a new road, with an easier journey through Waikare Gorge, will help unlock the greater region's economic potential."
