Friday 13 November 2020

Emerging preferred corridor expected soon for Whangārei to Port Marsden Highway

Kia ora,

In early October, we announced a shortlist of two route options for the SH1 Whangārei to Port Marsden Highway project and recently rounded out a busy month analysing hundreds of responses we received during the feedback period.

This project will provide an upgraded 22km four-lane corridor that will improve transport connections between Auckland and Whangārei. It is part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s $6.8 billion investment to save lives, get regions moving and boost productivity in key growth areas.

We’d like to thank those who took the time to share their thoughts with us. Your feedback is helping us to make an informed decision on the emerging preferred corridor, which we expect to identify within the next month.

In the meantime, you can view a summary of engagement here.

We received over 550 pieces of feedback.

What did people say?

In total, the project information online was accessed over 4000 times and we received more than 550 individual pieces of feedback on our interactive map, over the phone and by email.

Some of the key themes included:

• Concern about the property and community impacts of the project for both options
• Access onto the four-lane highway from several intersections need consideration and improvement
• Environmental impacts have been identified as a concern for both options A and E:
  - feedback has shown support for option E to conserve the coastal marine environment
  - feedback has also shown support for option A to conserve areas of environmental value
• Following the designated rail corridor is supported to minimise impact on properties and to save costs
• Convern about the traffic impacts furing the construction period.

While feedback on the two shortlisted route options has now closed, you can see what others had to say on our interactive map.

View feedback on the interactive map.

How can I get involved?

We will continue to share project information as well as opportunities for you to let us know what you think. Engagement with our partners, stakeholders and local communities is key to the successful delivery of the Whangārei to Port Marsden Highway project.

Once the emerging preferred corridor has been identified, and after we have met with potentially affected landowners, we will publish the emerging preferred corridor on our website. The next round of engagement will get underway in early-2021 and will be focussed more on highway design elements including intersections, access and walking and cycling. As well as our ongoing online engagement, we are also planning to host community events in February 2021.

If there is anything you’d like to share with us, don’t hesitate to email the project team at w2pmh@nzta.govt.nz. You can also contact us on freephone 0800 948 342.

What happens next?

Once we have identified the emerging preferred corridor we will progress through further assessments, ground investigations and consultation to confirm the corridor.

We are planning to lodge the Notice(s) of Requirement and resource consent applications in late-2021/early-2022, followed by procurement for construction and detailed design.

Construction will begin late-2023/early-2024 and will be completed in stages by 2028.

More information

For more information on the SH1 Whangārei to Port Marsden Highway project, contact us at W2PMH@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/w2pmh