The four-laning of Hewletts Road and the construction of a duplicate harbour bridge in Tauranga.
To improve traffic flows by constructing a continuous four-lane expressway from Takitimu Drive through to Hewletts Road and Mount Maunganui, including a duplicate harbour bridge.
This project will provide more efficient and quicker access between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, reduce congestion on the existing harbour bridge and Hewletts Road and the traffic bottleneck at Chapel Street/Marsh Street for through traffic.
Harbour Link is being constructed in two stages. Stage 1, the four-laning of Hewletts Road on the Mount Maunganui side of the harbour, from Jean Batten Drive to the old toll plaza. Stage 1 was completed in September 2007. Stage 2 site preparation began in February 2007 and involved four-laning of the bridge causeway, the construction of a duplicate harbour bridge and a four lane flyover from Takitimu Drive to the existing Harbour Bridge. As part of this project the NZ Transport Agency is gazetting the road between Mirrielees Road and Tasman Quay as a state highway.