Jones promises no delays at Puketona

Turning the symbolic first sods for the Puketona roundabout on Tuesday were Ngāti Rahiri/Ngāti Kawa kaumātua Wiremu Tane (left), Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones and NZ Transport Agency board member Ken Rintoul. Picture / Peter de Graaf

Two more roundabout projects were symbolically launched in the Mid North on Tuesday, and Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones vowed that there would be no repeat of the delays that have plagued the Waipapa project.

Along with iwi and NZ Transport Agency representatives, Jones turned the first sods on roundabouts at Puketona Junction, where SH10 and SH11 meet, and at the SH1 and SH11 junction at Kawakawa. They are the first regional projects in the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced earlier this year.

Jones said the NZTA had begun preparatory work on the Puketona roundabout long ago, but had been starved of pūtea (money) for year, NZTA board member also promising that there would be delays.

"This project (Puketona) was 25 years in the making. The next one (at Kawakawa) will be 25 months in the making. That's how we're going to operate from now on," he said.

NZTA regional relationships manager Steve Mutton said queues and delays at Puketona Junction led motorists to take risks, with sometimes tragic consequences. The new single-lane roundabout would improve safety, reduce delays, reflect the area's rich cultural heritage and improve visitor experiences. It was due to be completed in March 2021.

Work on the smaller $6 million Kawakawa roundabout will start this month with the erection of a retaining wall. Construction of the roundabout itself is due to start in September, with completion by June 2021.

Tuesday's gathering at Puketona included Bay of Islands Country Lodge owner Ed Lyman, who said the NZTA had not been to see him despite his motel being next to the intersection. The roundabout design, first drafted in 2009, would require his accessway to be re-routed across the motel's front lawn, and would "just about wipe out the pool."

Junction Café co-owner Gavin Norman, however, said the NZTA had promised to keep the project's impact on his business to a minimum. He welcomed the roundabout, saying it would reduce speed and hold-ups while improving traffic flow and safety.

''It should be great,'' he said.

Meanwhile Rintoul hinted that a two-lane bridge at Taumarere, east of Kawakawa, was coming soon, as were speed limit reductions on four sections of state highway around the Far North, part of a drive to improve road safety, but also requiring a change in driving culture.

He urged all Northlanders to play their part by talking to workmates and whānau about drink-driving, seat belts and speed.