The opening today of the Kaituna Road extension marks another milestone for the Tauranga Eastern Link project (TEL).
The Kaituna Road extension is one of the TEL's seven support projects. It involved extending a 2.1 kilometre section of Kaituna Road to the east of the (TEL) route as well as relocating utilities and building a new stormwater drainage system.
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Principal Project Manager, Andrew Scott said a blessing by local iwi was held today to officially open the new section of the road.
Andrew Scott said the opening of the Kaituna Extension Road is significant as it will provide access for residents to their properties which will be cut off from Pah Road once the TEL is completed.
The Kaituna Road Extension is one of five TEL support projects completed. The other completed projects include:
The construction of the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) commenced a year ago and since then considerable progress has been made to date with five of the seven support projects completed on the $455m Roads of National Significance (RoNs) Project .
The Tauranga Eastern Link will run from Te Maunga (near Baypark Stadium) in Tauranga to the existing junction of State Highways 2 and State Highway 33 (the intersection of the Rotorua and Whakatane highways) near Paengaroa. It will be made up of 17km of new road and an upgrade of six kilometres of existing highway.
Editor’s notes
The Government has identified seven essential state highway projects linked to New Zealand's economic prosperity. Called the roads of national significance, or RoNS for short, the NZTA is charged with delivering this programme of state highway improvements. The RoNS programme represents one of New Zealand's biggest ever infrastructure investments and is a key part of the Government's National Infrastructure Plan and Government's Policy Statement for transport.
The seven RoNS projects are based around New Zealand's five largest population centres. The focus is on moving people and freight between and within these centres more safely and efficiently. Other RoNS may be added in future but currently from north to south the seven projects are: Puhoi to Wellsford - SH1, Completing the Western Ring Route, Auckland - SH16, SH18 and SH20, Victoria Park Tunnel, Auckland - SH1, Waikato Expressway - SH1, Tauranga Eastern Link - SH2, Wellington Northern Corridor - SH1, Christchurch Motorways.
