Ōtaki to north of Levin project update – September 2020

To make travel from Ōtaki to north of Levin safer and more resilient and increase transport choice for the area’s growing population, we're working to build a highway for regional and through traffic by the end of the decade.  

Since our last newsletter we've been continuing to meet with property owners within the highway's draft preferred alignment and holding drop-in community information sessions.  We're now happy to announce we will also be hosting an online opportunity to hear from the project team.

Join us for an Ō2NL panel discussion online

To give everyone an opportunity to hear more about the Ō2NL new highway project we will be hosting an online panel discussion and Q&A with our project team, via Zoom.

The team will talk through our recent work to develop the draft preferred alignment, the intersection locations and the proposals for local road connections. You will also have an opportunity to submit written questions and we’ll aim to answer as many as possible during the session and follow up with any others afterwards.

Ō2NL online event:

• Wednesday 9 September, 6pm-7pm
  Link to meeting
  Meeting ID: 949 7623 1826
  Alternatively, dial 04 886 0026 or 09 884 6780 and enter meeting ID (above).

Up to 500 people can join this webinar and registrations will not be necessary ahead of the event. Please note, you will need to enter your details when you join.

This session will be recorded, and we’ll make it available on our website afterwards.

Drop-in session at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō on Saturday 5 September

New highway community drop-in sessions

Thank you to everyone who has already stopped by one of our community information drop-in sessions. We have already hosted more than 450 people at our sessions and have appreciated the opportunity to talk with people and answer questions while we gather your feedback.

Under Covid-19 Alert Level 2 we are managing numbers and contact tracing requirements at our events and we thank you all for your patience while we work with the current conditions.

Don't miss out on our drop-in sessions

We still have more drop-in information sessions to come:

• Tuesday 8 to Thursday 10 September, 10am-4pm, Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō, 10 Bath St, Levin
• Saturday 12 September, 10am-1pm, Ohau Hall, 14 Muhunoa West Road, Ohau
• Tuesday 15 September, 2pm-4pm, Koputaroa Hall, 399 Koputaroa Road, Koputaroa

An information display is available available at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō during library hours until Friday 11 September.

Your feedback and local knowledge can help ensure the new highway serves your community effectively. Find out more and have your say by coming along to one of our drop-in sessions or visiting our website by 22 September.

If you can’t make our drop-in sessions and would like to discuss the project further, please email O2NL@nzta.govt.nz or phone 0508 625 4636.

Ō2NL Social Pinpoint.

Provide your feedback online

We encourage you to share your feedback on the draft preferred alignment with us, and doing this online can be an easy option.

Go to www.nzta.govt.nz/O2NL-new-highway and click on ‘Have your say now’ to get to our Social Pinpoint feedback site. You can choose to:

• Leave your feedback by dropping a comment on the map, or adding your note or reaction to other people's comments.
• Fill out the short survey on the road alignment, connections and local road proposals in the ‘Tell us more’ tab.

You can also provide your feedback by emailing O2NL@nzta.govt.nz or call us on 0508 625 4636. 

Please remember to get your feedback to us by 22 September.

Interested in more detail?

The proposals we're currently sharing for feedback are the result of technical investigations across a range of fields. This process, involving our iwi and council partners, considered:

• Fit with project objectives - safety, resilience, improved movement, access and reliability
• Environment and social impacts - landscape and visual, ecology, heritage, archaeology, noise and vibration, productive land values, social/community/recreation, and district development
• Ability to implement - fit with local road system, engineering degree of difficulty, property degree of difficulty.

So far, the initial stages of analysis have been completed. These have led to the draft preferred alignment, connections and local road options that we're sharing now.

Details of the work done to date are in the Draft Report on the assessment of a new highway alignment, interchange and local road options and the range of individual technical reports. A supplementary report oulines further work to ensure the proposal elements formed a cohesive solution, and to respond to issues raised through the initial assessments. 

Note that these reports are draft, and will not be finalised until after feedback from the current community engagement is considered and further technical work is carried out.

See the technical reports page on our website to view these reports.

More information and support

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/o2nl to find about our work in the corridor or check out:

• www.nzta.govt.nz/o2nl-proposed-new-highway for information on the new highway
• http://www.nzta.govt.nz/o2nl-SH57-safety-improvements to find out more on the safety improvement plans and submit your feedback,
• www.nzta.govt.nz/o2nl-safer-roads-and-roadsides to find out about work to make our existing roads and roadsides safer.

Do you know people who want to know more? They can subscribe here.

For more information on the Ōtaki to north of Levin project, contact us at o2nl@nzta.govt.nz