Fast-track for SH1's new $13m bypass

The $13.3 million second stage of the Kamo Bypass has been fast-tracked to ease Whangarei traffic congestion and help economic development, with  about 90 homes being demolished for the long-awaited project.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and Whangarei District Council yesterday announced the fast-tracking of the bypass as part of six projects being done along State Highway  1 through Whangarei.
The projects are designed to ease traffic congestion that is threatening to gridlock the city with the Government funding the project as part of its stimulus package designed to keep the economy moving during the recession.
NZTA will put in about $13.3 million on constructing the bypass while the council will spend $3 million - which will receive a 62 per cent subsidy from the Government - on constructing the Spedding Rd link to the bypass.
Work on the bypass will start early next year at the latest, more than a year earlier than originally planned, NZTA Northland State Highways manager Tommy Parker said.
The bypass would take about two years to complete and Mr Parker said it was NZTA policy to get its contractors to use as many local subcontractors and workers as possible. So Whangarei would be receiving much economic benefit from the project, even if a local firm did not win the tender to construct the bypass.
The overall cost of the bypass project is about $23 million, which includes the cost of the 52 properties NZTA had to buy so it could take the preferred route from Western Hills Dr to link up with the current bypass just to the north of the roundabout at the southern end of the existing bypass.
Mr Parker said all but two properties had been bought for the project and negotiations were ongoing with those two owners, while the tenants in the other properties it owned along the route had been given six months notice.
He said the economic stimulus package and the good work done between NZTA and the council meant that the bypass project could be brought forward by at least a year.
Whangarei Mayor Stan Semenoff said the project will protect jobs during the recession and bring great economic benefits to the district.
Mr Semenoff said the project had been talked about for many years with the council first getting involved in 1989.
He said the Spedding Rd link, which would see the removal of about 42 houses the council owns, would take 6000 to 7000 vehicles a day off Mill Rd.
"We are spending $3 million on Spedding Rd compared to about $20 million it would cost to upgrade Mill Rd to handle the expected congestion."
The new bypass will feature a cycling track and walkway alongside it while the roundabout at the southern entrance to the existing bypass will disappear once stage two is completed in 2012.
An information evening to discuss the plans will be held at Kamo Bowling Club from 5.30pm on July 28.