Dannevirke residents check out progress on new highway

Some of the native vegetation being planted along the Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū-Tararua highway to help mitigate effects on the environment. Photo / Leanne Warr

Dannevirke residents were able to get a look at what progress had been made on the new highway between the Manawatū and Tararua.

Waka Kotahi held the first of three public information sessions in Dannevirke this week, giving residents the opportunity to talk to some of the people involved in the project.

The Te Ahu a Turanga Highway is well into its second year of works, and a spokesman from Waka Kotahi said it was still on track for opening in December 2024.

Around 40 people attended the information evening, where they were able to view the flyovers of the work in progress.

There were a few spills as some of the people attending the session tried out the simulator to get an idea of what the highway will look like. Photo / Leanne Warr

Some also got a chance to try out the simulator, which allows them to take a virtual drive on the highway - although not without a few spills.

Waka Kotahi also included a display of plants, which would be planted along the highway in order to mitigate its effects on the environment.

More than 530,000 native plants will be placed over the next few months as part of the project's ecological offset programme.

Almost 2 million will be planted at several locations throughout the region during the project.

In May, the team working on the project celebrated the milestone of moving the 3 millionth cubic metre of earth since construction began in January last year.

A total of 6 million cubic metres will be moved.

A public information session was also held at the Waka Kotahi site office in Ashhurst on Wednesday, and a third is in Woodville on Thursday.