A preliminary concept design for the new Manawatū River bridge

Design progresses as new highway gets four lanes

We are pleased to confirm that the new Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway will have two lanes each way for the majority of the new road, including the plateau across the Ruahine Ranges.

The decision to have slow vehicle lanes running continuously was reached after further design work which included input from the public and road user groups - thank you for your constructive and helpful feedback on this issue.

This means there will be four traffic lanes between the roundabouts that bookmark each end of the new highway, giving people a safe and reliable journey between Ashhurst and Woodville.

We are focusing on other key design aspects of the new transport corridor, including the major bridge across the Manawatū River and the roundabouts at either end. We look forward to sharing our work with you at upcoming public information sessions in early December (see article below).

Notice of Requirement and consents

Good progress has been made on the appeals to the Notice of Requirement for the transport corridor designation. This has included direct engagement with appellants, interested parties and landowners and Court assisted mediation. 

We are adjusting the transport corridor alignment to reduce effects on the QEII open space covenants and associated ecological values, to improve resilience and to avoid windfarm infrastructure.

We are progressing our enabling works resource consents for site access tracks, water take and storage and critical geotechnical investigations across the corridor. We plan to start these works early in 2020.  These are critical activities to complete the project by the end of 2024.

Our technical investigations for the main construction works are well underway. This includes ecology field work – we have been measuring and assessing streams and are mapping vegetation in detail. We are engaging with our iwi partners, Horizons, Department of Conservation and other parties and are on track to lodge consent applications with Horizons in December.

Another great turnout in Woodville

Public Information Sessions in December

The updated concept design, together with other project updates and the latest information will be presented to the public at a round of open days in the region in early December 2019. We will present the latest information for the upcoming enabling works and provide a schedule for construction proper.

We will notify you of the dates and locations for the sessions in due course.

Pahīatua Track widening and Remutaka Hill closures

Shoulder widening is getting underway on the Pahīatua Track soon.  The work will create cycle lanes and is part of a $2.1 million project to upgrade the road which has seen a considerable increase in traffic numbers since the closure of SH3 through the Manawatū Gorge.  Please expect stop/go during daytimes.

Please take note of night time closures of SH2 Remutaka Hill Road for essential maintenance and slip prevention work. These closures may have an impact on traffic movements on Pahīatua Track and Saddle Road.

• 9pm Sunday 10 November - 4am Monday 11 November (one night)
• 9pm Sunday 24 November - 4am Friday 29 November (five nights - road re-opens daily at 4am)

We post upcoming road works on our NZ Transport Agency - Central North Island Facebook page each Friday. You can follow this page to find out what’s planned in the region for the week ahead.

Manawatū Gorge update

We are continuing to assess the future of the old road through the Manawatū Gorge. While it is certain it will never be a state highway again, we will work closely with iwi, councils and the Department of Conservation to develop a plan for this area. We will discuss this plan with the community when we can.

We continue to monitor the gorge and the conditions remain highly unstable. We continue to receive accounts of people venturing past the barricades blocking the road. We strongly advise against this – it is not safe for people to be on the road. However, the walking tracks on the top of the gorge are still open and safe to use.

More information

For more information on the SH3 Manawatū Gorge replacement route, contact us at teahuaturanga@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/manawatu-gorge