The view towards Hamilton showing the Osborne Road bridge, Resolution Drive Interchange taking shape, including the extension of Resolution Drive into the city, and in the distance the Kay Road bridge.

June 2018

Progress on the final three sections of the region’s biggest ever infrastructure project – the Waikato Expressway – is clearly visible following a busy summer and autumn.
Traffic is now using two-thirds of the new south-bound lanes on the Longswamp section and work on the northern lanes is under way.
The Huntly section is wrapping up earthworks after moving about 4 million cubic metres of material and is now focussing on pavement construction and completing bridges.
The Hamilton section still has some earthworks to complete but is also starting to look ahead to pavement works.
The remaining section timeframes are:
• 5.9km Longswamp section 2016-2019
• 15.2km Huntly section 2015-2020
• 22km Hamilton section 2016-2020
For more project information – photos, videos, news – go to the project website where you can also sign up for emailed updates. Or like us on Facebook to get progress news and posts most days. 

Beams going on to the Whangamarino Road bridge which crosses the expressway near Paddy Road.

Longswamp

The 5.9km expressway section involves widening the existing SH1 route as well as local road network improvements, including a bridge over the expressway.
Construction started in early 2017 on building the south-bound lanes first and in recent months all traffic has been switched on to 4km of new lanes.
With traffic out of the way, work has started on the new north-bound lanes.
A big project is under way just south of the Whangamarino Road overbridge to strengthen and build up the ground to accommodate four lanes.  About 300 stone columns are needed, along with 4500 cubic metres of rock, to make a stable platform. 
The Whangamarino Road extension includes the bridge over the expressway so we have stopped calling it the Paddy Road bridge. The bridge near Paddy Road links east and west when it opens later this year, and now has beams in place and decking on the eastern side. The western beams and deck will go up when traffic moves over once the western abutment is completed.
Parts of the site are getting the full landscaping and planting treatment as sections of lanes are completed. 
This whole 5.9km section remains a construction zone until completion so take care and please follow the 70km/h speed limit. The reduced speed is for the safety of all road users and the construction crews working nearby.

Read the latest update here

The view north up to the cutting at the top of Taupiri Range, with Huntly town and Lake Hakanoa top left.

Huntly

SH1 users will have noted progress at the Northern Interchange recently with all traffic now using the new on-ramp. This creates room to complete the four-lane bridge that will take traffic over the Main Trunk Railway and off-ramp.
Read more about that at https://bit.ly/2rndeLO

But out of sight along the 15.2km route, which will take SH1 away from Huntly and over the Taupiri Range, there has been good summer and autumn progress.
This was the final season of earthworks and pavement work is under way in some places with rock down on approximately 6km of the alignment.
The cutting needed at Taupiri Pass is largely complete, with some recent blasting needed to loosen about 40,000 m3 of rock.  This blast was required for widening rather than for depth. The blue/brown rock loosened in the blasting goes down as subgrade improvement layers – the solid base for the road.
All up, 1.2 million m3 of material has been removed to create a 57-metre deep and 400m wide cutting through the hillside. All material has been used elsewhere on the project.
Watch the latest blasting video here
Read about the cutting here
The Mangatoketoke Stream bridge is having its concrete deck poured. This is the last of the four stream bridges on the project to have the deck in place. It’s the one you can see closest to the Gordonton Road Interchange.
Gordonton Road Interchange, at the southern connection to Huntly section, is currently being developed into a “full diamond” with on and off-ramps. 
We will host our first public information day on the site, on Saturday 27 October, likely to be based at the McVie Road site office, east of Huntly. We expect to be able to bus people along a portion of the route. More details closer to the date.
You can watch the latest video flyover showing summer and autum progress here
And other project videos and timelapse at the project website under the videos tab.

Greenhill Interchange will be an important connection to the city. It is being built just south of no-exit Greenhill Road and connects to Pardoa Boulevard and Wairere Drive.

Hamilton

After completing two summer seasons, the CityEdge Alliance is about halfway through this project and progress can be seen from every vantage point along the 22km route.
With some of the 17 bridges completed the team have been able to haul a lot more earth and sand as they play catch-up after a wet earthmoving season in 2016/17.
This summer and autumn saw more than 2 million m3 of sand and soil moved. Now the expressway embankments are above ground the alliance can continue earthworks through winter, when the weather allows. The aim is to complete the earthworks on large sections so building the road pavement can begin in spring.
Another focus over winter is working on the remaining bridge and interchange structures.
Project plans for the Resolution Drive Interchange have been upgraded to include the addition of south-facing ramps. Construction is advanced on the interchange and work has begun on the 1.9km extension of Resolution Drive to the interchange.
Traffic using Kay Road over the next two years will be affected by the Resolution Drive extension works and by other road works and development in this area. The team will be working closely with Hamilton City Council to minimise impacts on traffic and local residents.
The new bridge and realignment of Kay Road was expected to open in July, but the road closure has now been extended. Major road works are required on Kay Road near the North City Road intersection, and these will be completed before Kay Road reopens. Once Kay Road reopens, Horsham Downs Road will close to through traffic near the intersection with Borman Road while a bridge will be built to take Horsham Downs Road over the expressway. There will be no traffic or pedestrian access through the site for about nine months. 
One of the busiest sites on the project is the southern gullies between SH1-Cambridge Road and Matangi Road, where slope stabilisation work is under way.
Our team have completed soil nailing on the gully banks, and are driving new foundations for the two bridges over the Mangaone and Mangaharakeke Gullies.
Bored piling has started at the Mangaonua Gully bridge, just south of Morrinsville Road. This 150m steel-beamed bridge will be the only one of its kind on the project and it will also be the longest. So far, foundations at each end of the bridge have been completed and abutment construction is under way.
A big reconstruction job continues at Ruakura Road between SH26-Morrinsville Road and the Vaile Road/Davison Road intersection. Completion of the final pavement layers, kerb and channel, footpath construction, drainage and sealing are still to come, and this will require stop/go traffic controls from time to time.  A big thank-you for your patience while the one-way restriction was in place.
In tandem with this work a roundabout is taking shape at the Ruakura Road/Morrinsville Road intersection to improve safety.
Planting has begun and this winter 160,000 seedlings will be planted along the new highway embankments and landscaped areas. Embankments are top-soiled then mulched with wood chips before planting. Around 650,000 plants – mainly native species grown from seed sourced in the Waikato – will be planted along the route.
Find out more:
A new tab has been created on the Hamilton website for Southern Interchange news. You can view that here
There are lots of resources on the website www.nzta.govt.nz/hamilton including the latest project flyover here
You can sign up for monthly updates and the quarterly Project Updates on the website. Read the latest Project Update here
See the latest monthly email here

Kay Road bridge spans the expressway north of the city

More information

For more information on the Waikato Expressway, contact us at waikatoexpressway@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/waikato-expressway