The Tauranga Eastern Link visitor information centre is opening tomorrow (July 1).
Located at 65 Tara Road, Papamoa, the centre will be open weekdays from 9am – 4.30pm and will allow members of the public access to the latest information about the Bay’s largest ever roading project.
NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) principal project manager Andrew Scott says displays at the centre will provide up to date information about Tauranga Eastern Link as the project progresses together with details of areas of interest for the project.
“Opening the information centre is an important step toward ensuring the community is kept up to date with progress on the project.” he says.
Information available at the centre includes: interactive fly through animation of the future highway, including a variety of scenarios for road users to see how they will travel through the Domain Road interchange and how tolling is likely to work, photos of construction progress, a scale model of the completed Domain Road interchange, DVD presentations featuring construction footage and in-depth project information and statistics.
“Our team will also be on hand to answer any questions, and we are available to give presentations on the project to interested community groups and schools,” Mr Scott said.
The Tauranga Eastern Link will bring a wide range of economic and transport benefits to the local and regional community.
“These include encouraging economic growth and productivity, reducing travel times between Tauranga and Paengaroa and improving safety,” he said.
Keep up-to-date with developments at www.nzta.govt.nz/tel(external link).
Editor’s notes
The four-lane Tauranga Eastern Link will run from Te Maunga (near Baypark Stadium) in Tauranga to the existing junction of State Highways 2 and 33 (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. The new highway is expected to open to traffic in 2016.
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 within the next 10 years. 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:
More information is available at www.nzta.govt.nz/rons(external link).
