Delay in fixing deadly highway

Traffic backed up on State Highway 2 near Mangatawhiri. Herald file picture

Construction of a 7.2km bypass of one of the country's deadliest stretches of highway - at Mangatawhiri, southeast of Auckland - has been knocked back by high costs.

Transit New Zealand, which hoped to let contracts for what was supposed to be a $46 million project by Christmas, announced last night that it had been forced to delay the job by at least six months.

"The result is very disappointing for us as we want to start construction as soon as possible," said the agency's Waikato regional manager, Chris Allen.

He acknowledged that the bypass was supposed to eliminate the worst stretch of the 35km section of State Highway 2 between Pokeno and the turnoff to Thames.

The Mangatawhiri stretch has claimed eight of the up to 40 lives lost in the past five years along the so-called "unforgiving highway", which the Government has been under political pressure to replace with a four-lane, $300 million expressway within 10 years.

Mr Allen said although there had been strong interest from construction firms in bidding for the Mangatawhiri project, their tenders had all come in "quite a bit higher" than hoped.

He denied the industry may have become too greedy, saying material costs had risen considerably, although there was also "a lot of work around so tenderers are finally making some good margins".

He was reluctant to indicate quoted costs, saying Transit was still engaged in a competitive tendering round and would work with the industry to find ways to make the project affordable within a $45.9 million budget approved by Land Transport New Zealand.

This might mean minor redesign without compromising fundamental elements of the project.

"Transit understands safety on this section of State Highway 2 is essential and we are making this additional work our top priority."

Mr Allen was quick yesterday to warn community representatives of the setback, including local fire chief Don Shanks, who has spent more than 30 years cutting dead and injured people from cars along the highway.

Mr Shanks was disappointed at the delay, but relieved the project had not been shelved. But he acknowledged the delay could add to the death toll.

Local resident Lynette Pickard, who was involved in a fatal accident about 2km east of the proposed bypass in October, said she was surprised by the delay and disappointed it was caused by financial considerations.

"It's quite a sorry state of affairs when it comes down to money. The Government is bumping up taxes for the roading and not a lot has been spent on the road, as far as I can see."

The local member of Parliament, Dr Paul Hutchison, said he was astounded to learn of the delay and called on the Government to make resources available so the deviation could begin as soon as possible.


Black stretch

* The 35km stretch between Pokeno and Mangatarata has claimed 40 lives in the past five years.

* The 7.2km deviation around Mangatawhiri was supposed to cost $46 million.

* It was due to start in 2005-06 and be completed by 2008.