Takitimu North Link is a vital transport link supporting economic growth and providing an efficient, reliable and safer route between Tauranga and Ōmokoroa. Stage 1 between Tauranga and Te Puna is due for completion 2028. The designation process for Stage 2 between Te Puna and Ōmokoroa is underway.
Come along to our community open day to find out more about current construction progress and the latest news on the rest of the project between Tauranga and Te Puna. We look forward to seeing you there!
When: Saturday, 29 March 2025 between 10.30am and 1.30pm
Where: Bethlehem Hall, 239 State Highway 2, Bethlehem, Tauranga
The Takitimu North Link Stage 1 project is a Crown funded new 6.8km 4-lane expressway between Tauranga and Te Puna, providing an alternative route to the existing State Highway 2 (SH2). This major infrastructure project, currently in construction, is a Road of National Significance and contributes to building a transport network that enables people and freight to move around efficiently, quickly, and safely.
The Bay of Plenty state highway network has national economic significance and plays a crucial role connecting people and freight to the golden triangle cities of Tauranga, Auckland and Hamilton, and beyond. The Port of Tauranga is the largest seaport in New Zealand by freight volume, and primary export port. The region’s economy relies heavily on the network for the movement of goods and services between Bay of Plenty and other parts of the North Island, including Auckland and Hamilton, and east towards Gisborne and Rotorua. It’s important that the state highway network is resilient, reliable, and safe.
Current congestion and poor trip reliability, along with safety and resilience issues, creates challenges with freight efficiency and productivity.
Western Bay of Plenty communities are projected to grow by 16,000 people in the next 20 years, and traffic crossing the Wairoa bridge increasing from 20,000 to more than 30,000 daily by 2031.
The rate of growth combined with existing safety, access and congestion issues means Takitimu North Link is a huge investment in the region’s growth.
Construction is underway and includes 3 million cubic metres of earthworks as well as the construction of 10 bridges, 19 culverts, 8 stream diversions and 7 wetlands. Stage 2 of the project, extending the road a further 8km onward to Ōmokoroa, has been identified as a Road of National Significance.
View the concept design [PDF, 1.2 MB]
Takitimu North Link will:
The alignment for the Takitimu North Link is within the rohe of Ngāti Ranginui iwi, and includes the hapū of Pirirākau, Ngāi Tamarawaho, Ngāti Hangarau, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Pango, Ngāti Rangi and Ngāti Taka.
The project name, Takitimu North Link, was gifted by Te Paerangi and acknowledges the area’s cultural significance.
Takitimu recognises the connection to the waka that brought Tamatea Arikinui to Aotearoa, at Tirikawa, the base of Mauao, at the entrance of Tauranga Moana. The tohunga and navigator, Tamatea Arikinui, and some of his people settled in Tauranga and members of the seven hapū can trace their whakapapa back to this ancestor.
CloseStage 1 is a new 6.8km four-lane road connecting SH29 Takitimu Drive through to SH2 west of Te Puna.
It is the Bay of Plenty’s biggest roading project to date.
Takitimu North Link will provide an alternative route to SH2, moving trucks away from local roads and supporting economic growth. It is a key part of the region’s Connected Centres programme developed by the Urban Form and Transport Initiative.
We are progressing to protect the route for Takitimu North Link Stage 2 between Te Puna and Ōmokoroa. This will give Council, landowners and the community certainty of the route and ensure Waka Kotahi is best placed to move forward when funding for construction becomes available.
This project has been identified in the draft Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS 2024) as a Road of National Significance.
The question of what happens to the existing State Highway 2 when Takitimu North Link becomes operational, is being worked out through a Programme Business Case.
When Stage 1 of the Takitimu North Link is complete it will become the new SH2 alignment between Tauranga and Te Puna. The existing SH2 road, through Bethlehem, will stop functioning as a state highway and is expected to become a local road managed by the local authorities.
Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council are responsible for the local roads and, if revocation is approved by the Secretary of Transport, will take over management of the revoked section of SH2. This is currently expected to happen in 2027.
The process of returning a state highway to a local road is called ‘revocation’. Revocation provides the opportunity to rethink the purpose and layout of this busy section of road. Waka Kotahi will ensure that when the existing SH2 road is handed over to the local authorities, it is in good condition.
Waka Kotahi is working with hapū partners, Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council on a future form and function of this corridor.
Further information on the revocation process [PDF, 429 KB]
ClosePhone: 0800 865 776
Email: info@takitimunorthlink.co.nz
