NZ Transport Agency
To seek the Board's approval of funding to implement two sections of the Waikato Expressway Road of National Significance:
Longswamp Section – construction of an upgrade of the existing corridor from 2+1 to 4 lane expressway over 5.9km connecting Hampton Downs (Mercer Section) to the north with the Rangiriri Section to the south; and
Hamilton Section – detailed design and construction of new expressway over 21.8km connecting the Ngaruawahia Section to the north with the Cambridge Section (including Tamahere) to the south.
5 March 2015
The New Zealand Transport Agency Board:
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a. |
agreed that all conditions of Board resolutions 07/12/3019 and 09/04/0173 relating to planning objectives, preferred options, and re-evaluation of the economics have been met for all sections of the Waikato Expressway; |
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b. |
approved $115 million for the construction of the Longswamp Section project |
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c. |
approved $973 million for the detailed design and construction of the Hamilton Section project. |
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d. |
noted the reasons for this decision are because the Waikato Expressway has a funding profile of High Strategic Fit, High Effectiveness, and a Benefit Cost ratio of 1.4. These two remaining sections of the expressway will substantially improve journey time and trip reliability, and complete the Waikato Expressway, unlocking the full suite of benefits. These reasons are elaborated in Attachment 1 of the Board paper. |
The Longswamp Section of the Waikato Expressway will improve journey time and trip reliability by providing a four lane median divided expressway consistent with the sections to the north and south; and will improve the safety of local access connectivity.
The Hamilton Section of the Waikato Expressway will connect the Ngaruawahia and Cambridge (including Tamahere) Sections of the Expressway, improve connectivity to Hamilton City strategic local arterials and improve safety, particularly by attracting vehicles that currently use other parts of the network such as the temporary State highway 1B.
These Sections (two of seven sections) form part of the Waikato Expressway Road of National Significance which is expected to provide a consistent customer experience which will: reduce travel times between Auckland and Tirau by up to 35 minutes once fully implemented; significantly reduce the number of fatal and serious injury crashes; increase the highway's capacity and passing opportunities; reduce traffic congestion within smaller communities; reduce fuel costs and contribute to economic growth.
The Waikato Expressway has a funding profile of High Strategic Fit, High Effectiveness and a Benefit Cost Ratio of 1.4 including wider economic benefits.
We confirm that the matters in sections 20(2) and 20(5) of the LTMA have been satisfied, and that the matters in section 20(3) have been taken into account.
