The northern section of the Kāpiti Expressway is on track for a construction start next year, with design work progressing well in collaboration with the local community.
Wellington highways manager Rod James says the Peka Peka to Ōtaki section is now six months into the specimen design phase, which means its design is being refined in the leadup to a scheduled construction start next year.
“Once we’ve finished this stage, we will have enough detail to seek tenders for the project – and then we’ll look forward to getting the spades in the ground.”
Mr James say the community, local iwi and councils have been closely involved throughout the project’s development, and discussions will continue over the next few months as design work progresses.
“This project has attracted a lot of support from the local community, and we feel that this is very much a team effort. The value of local insight cannot be overstated, and we are continuing to meet with community groups, iwi and stakeholders to streamline the design and investigate ways to reduce the impact of the expressway on residents.
“We know that while this project will deliver real benefits for the public, it will also have impacts, and we want to start addressing those at an early stage to ensure we can minimise disruption.”
Mr James says that once the Peka Peka to Ōtaki section of the Expressway is underway next year, there will be construction happening all the way from Linden (Transmission Gully) to Te Horo on the four-lane Wellington Northern Corridor route. This is creating significant economic activity, and jobs along with it.
“We’ve already seen the boost to the local economy that has been provided by the first section of the Kāpiti Expressway, and we’re very excited about the prospect of providing further impetus through this work.
“This means that next year, more jobs will become available, covering a huge range of skills and disciplines. And given that local suppliers have been a big contributor to the work happening on the first section of the Expressway, it’s safe to say they will have more opportunities to look forward to.”
Specific topics the Agency is seeking input into include:
The specimen design phase is set to run until early 2016, and also includes buying necessary land, writing detailed design and build contract documents for tender, and tendering the contract.
The Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway is a section of the Wellington Northern Corridor that aims to provide safe, efficient and reliable travel from Levin to Wellington Airport so communities and businesses can grow and prosper.
The Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway will be a 15km four-lane, median-divided highway running along the existing SH1 route from Peka Peka Road to Te Horo, and an eastern bypass of Ōtaki with connections to local roads and new bridges. As well as making travel through the area safer and quicker for all road users, it’ll ease congestion on local trips and support economic development in the surrounding area.
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More information on the project can be found at: www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/peka-peka-to-otaki/. Or you can contact the project team at: info@pp2o.co.nz, or 0800 PP2O INFO (0800 7726 4636)
For more information please contact:
Anthony Frith
Media Manager - Central
T: 04 894 5251
M: 027 213 7617
E: anthony.frith@nzta.govt.nz
