Takitimu North Link: Three-month closure of Moffat Rd for Cambridge Rd overbridge works

“Significant” traffic disruption is expected as part of a road in Bethlehem closes for three months as part of Tauranga’s $655 million Takitimu North Link project.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said in a statement this week the closure of part of Moffat Rd would begin in January.

Regional manager of infrastructure delivery, Jo Wilton, said work to build the new Cambridge Rd overbridge, between Bethlehem and Tauriko, had entered its final phase as part of the new 6.8km expressway project.

“This is one of three bridges nearing completion on the project, which is really exciting progress,” Wilton said.

“Cambridge Rd is our busiest site on the project with 14,000 vehicles travelling through daily, and our crew is now focused on complex tie-in work to connect the new bridge, which will result in a new road layout,” she said.

“A diversion road is being built allowing traffic to flow past the site while construction continues. Once the diversion road is built, the existing Cambridge Rd will be dug out and materials laid for the new road.”

The work required a three-month closure of a section of Moffat Rd near Tauranga Adventist School.

There would be a “significant disruption” to travel through this area with a diversion road in use, and local detours for light vehicles and heavy trucks to use State Highway 29/Takitimu Drive Toll Rd.

People could find out more and ask questions at a community open day on November 18.

“We are very keen to get out to the community to talk through these works and what to expect,” Wilton said.

The open day will be held at Bethlehem Hall, on State Highway 2, from 10.30am to 1.30pm.

A view of the project site facing north, over Cambridge and Moffat Rds, taken in October 2023. The construction work will affect some 14,000 vehicles which use the route daily. Photo / Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

“This is a challenging job requiring coordination between multiple teams working on the bridge structure, utilities, drainage, earthworks, and pavement crews, as well as significant traffic management including detours, road and lane closures and temporary speed limits,” Wilton said.

“Road users should expect disruption during this important phase of construction. There will be an inevitable impact for people who travel through this area. We are working with Tauranga City Council, schools, and residents on the impacts of this work.”

Tauranga Adventist School principal Joanne Seluone said the Moffat Rd closure would “naturally have an impact on our staff, school whānau and community who travel to school via the Tauriko/Cambridge Road end of Tauranga Moana”.

Seluone said she expected that with detours in place, travel times could be longer than normal but “we support the project as our road infrastructure needs to be upgraded and improved”.

She said the Takitimu North Link team had been “exceptional at walking alongside our board, staff and school whānau”. All parties involved had been well updated, including parents or caregivers picking up children after school, she said.

The project is being carried out in three phases, with the second phase starting in January closing a section of Moffat Rd until April.

A bylaw preventing the use of heavy trucks on the local detour meant tolls on the SH29/Takitimu Drive toll road would be lifted for heavy trucks during this phase.

The Cambridge Rd overbridge was expected to be finished in April, but other works around the intersection would continue until mid-2024.

Once completed, the overbridge will become the new local road, linking Cambridge and Moffat Rds, and allowing for the Takitimu North Link expressway to be built underneath.

The Takitimu North Link project is part of the Government’s $8.7 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme, with $655m provided for the planning and construction of stage one, and route protection for stage two, which includes statutory requirements such as resource consents.