People can find out more about plans to connect the Horsham Downs area to the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway at a community information day next month.
The information day will be held on Tuesday, 8 December at the Horsham Downs Community Hall in Martin Lane. People can attend any time between 2pm and 7pm.
Representatives from the NZ Transport Agency, Waikato District Council and Hamilton City Council will be onsite to explain planned connections to the expressway, and the subsequent changes to the road network.
The preferred local connections have been confirmed as the Transport Agency gears up to construct the Hamilton section of the expressway in 2016. The preferred plans include:
The Transport Agency’s Hamilton highways manager, Kaye Clark says confirmation of the preferred local connections follows extensive consultation with the community and key stakeholders.
Mrs Clark says the Transport Agency has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hamilton City Council, Waikato District Council and Tainui Group Holdings (TGH), signalling a collaborative approach to the expressway build.
“We are focused on working together to ensure the expressway will work with the local road network to support growth and development, while also keeping the community connected,” she says.
“We’d like to encourage as many people as possible to attend this information day to see our plans and learn more about the project.”
The planning process for an alteration to the expressway designation for these works will begin soon. A Notice of Requirement and resource consent applications for the planned works will be lodged early in 2016.
This will be a publicly notified process and anyone can make a submission.
The Waikato Expressway is one of seven Roads of National Significance (RoNS) identified by the Government as key to unlocking New Zealand’s potential for economic growth. It is being built in seven sections.
The 21.8km Hamilton section of the expressway is the biggest roading project to be undertaken in the Waikato, connecting to the Ngaruawahia section at Lake Road in the north and the existing Tamahere section in the south.
The project will pass to the south and east of Hamilton and include five interchanges, 17 bridges and connecting roads at Cambridge Road, Ruakura Road, Greenhill Road and Resolution Drive.
Work is expected to start on the $973 million project in spring 2016.
For more information about the project go to: www.nzta.govt.nz/hamilton.
