Kāeo Bridge to open both lanes this weekend

The long-awaited new $40 million Kāeo Bridge will be open on both lanes for the first time on Saturday

Kāeo’s long-awaited new $40 million bridge will finally be open to traffic on both lanes this weekend, a move NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says is two months ahead of schedule.

And while traffic will be able to use both lanes, NZTA said overnight resurfacing works would still be required near the new Kāeo Bridge from Sunday between 7pm and 5am. This work would take about si weeks (Sunday to Thursday).

Stop/go traffic control would be in place during both day and night works, with a reduced speed of 30km/h.

Road users must slow down when passing through the worksite and follow the temporary speed restrictions, to ensure the quality of the works and the safety of both driver and road workers.

But it’s good news the Kāeo Bridge will also open to two-way traffic on Saturday evening. .

The bridge will open in both directions two months ahead of schedule, to help alleviate traffic movements for people heading to the Far North, NZTA said.

Some of the work remaining can be done while the bridge is open, which includes the demolition of the old bridge, roundabout, tie-ins and artwork. The project is expected to be fully completed by April.

Ahead of the bridge opening, there will be some resurfacing works on State Highway 10 in Kāeo township on Thursday,between 8am and 5pm. This chip-sealing work will be completed over the period of one day, but traffic management will be in place for four days. This includes one day for the laying of the seal, then sweeping up the loose chip, followed by line marking.

Emergency Services will be accommodated at all times and NZTA said to get real-time traffic updates please visit the NZTA Journey Planner.

Work on the $40 million project, which includes a roundabout on the Kāeo side of the river to improve traffic flow, started in 2021.

The new bridge is twice as long and wide as the old bridge, and also significantly higher to protect Kāeo from flooding.

The old one-way Kāeo Bridge has long been a summer chokepoint on State Highway 10 between the Bay of Islands and Doubtless Bay. It was also too narrow for some loads.

The bridge is located on the Twin Coast Discovery Route, Northland’s main tourist route, and provides access to visitor destinations such as Doubtless Bay, Karikari Peninsula and Cape Reinga.

During peak visitor season, the single-lane bridge became a bottleneck, creating delays for everyone. Many of those driving across the bridge are not familiar with one-lane bridges and the need to give way caused confusion.

NZTA Waka Kotahi said by making it safer and easier to move through the intersection and over the bridge, the project will improve the experience of visitors, freight traffic and other road users travelling the Twin Coast Discovery Route.

The area around the bridge is low lying and extreme weather events cause frequent flooding in and around Kāeo. The new bridge is designed not to exacerbate this problem, avoiding any adverse upstream impacts on Kāeo.

The bridge will be the same height as the previous one so the embankment at the western end doesn’t need to be higher - this may have created a damming effect when waters are high. In addition, at 110m, the new bridge will be over twice as long as the old bridge. This means that a larger volume of water will be able to flow underneath it.