In one month of motorists travelling the $824 million Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatū Tararua Highway, there have been no complaints, no crashes and no potholes.
The Mayor of Tararua, Tracey Collis, said the highway was exceeding expectations, and relieving travel anxiety and boosting businesses.
“The district is absolutely thriving, the new highway has changed every aspect of our lives.”
Collis said it had significantly changed travel patterns on both the Saddle Rd and the Pahiatua Track.
“The Saddle Rd is back to 255 vehicles a day...whereas that was 6941 a day.”
Collis said the number of heavy vehicles travelling the Pahiatua Track had also decreased.
“If we go back to November... there were 3471 people using the track, that’s down to 1751, that’s a significant change in route.”
Between June 11 and July 9, 261,209 vehicles travelled the 11.5km highway between Ashhurst and Woodville.
According to NZTA project manager Grant Kauri, this averaged more than 9300 vehicles a day, and despite the heavy rainfall over the past fortnight, maintenance teams were not required to repair the road surfacing.
Kauri said there had been some questions about the speed limit on the highway, and current signage was being investigated.
“The highway is performing well and NZTA is buoyed by the positive feedback from community groups and road users, including the freight industry and emergency services.”
Logging truck driver and Dannevirke local Trevor Beale said he travelled the highway two hours after it opened in his motorhome and was impressed with the stretch of road.
“The guys who did it did a wonderful job, and... it’s a credit to the workmanship they put into it.”
He said one important part of driving on the road, especially for truck drivers, was to accommodate the steep gradient and not rely heavily on braking systems.
“People have to learn to drive to the conditions.”
He noted during the drive that there were limited places to pull over should a vehicle need to stop.
“That is something they have to address, putting pull-over areas for people that may have punctures or a breakdown that is not for sightseeing.”
An NZTA spokesman said the highway had three official pull-over areas – two heading east towards Woodville and one for motorists heading west towards Ashhurst.
There were also maintenance bays and parts of the highway had shoulders where there was space between the barrier at the edge of the road and the lane for vehicles to pull over.
Collis said they had expected a spike in people across the three months after opening, but were particularly impressed with people venturing out in the winter months.
“They are spending time in our shops and businesses and exploring what we have got.”
She said there had been increased interest in commercial and residential property.
“When I go through Woodville, I get really excited, people outside the real estate offices just having a look in the window.”
She said while it was hard to measure the economic increase in the district, they were certainly feeling it in the number of visitors.
“Someone said to me in Dannevirke, every day looks like Friday, and Friday was always the busy day.”
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.