Northland Corridor

23 April 2025

Left to right: Northland Regional Transport Committee Chair Joe Carr, Northland MP Hon. Grant McCallum, Transport Minister Hon. Chris Bishop, Whangārei MP Hon. Shane Reti and NZTA Director of Regional Relationships Steve Mutton.

Project update - April 2025

Tēnā koe and welcome to the Northland Corridor newsletter.

We are pleased to share the emerging preferred corridor for Section 2 and Section 3 of the Northland Corridor project with you, which was announced today by Transport Minister, Hon. Chris Bishop, and Regional Development Minister, Hon. Shane Jones.

We share the map below and answer some questions you may have.

While we know this is an exciting time for Northland, it can provide some uncertainty for local landowners. Our next steps are to confirm details of potentially affected properties within our emerging preferred corridor before reaching out to those landowners.

We are also working at pace to refine a design for the new road within the emerging preferred corridor and expect to be able to share a preferred route in August/September this year. 

Emerging preferred corridor for Section 2 Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway and Section 3 Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei

The emerging preferred corridor covers the 45km section between Te Hana and Port Marsden Highway (Section 2) and the 26km section between Port Marsden Highway and Whangārei (Section 3).  

It still needs some refining but will support designs for a new four-lane road, mostly built separately from the existing state highway with access mainly at major intersections and interchanges.

The individual sections are:

Section 2: Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway

• Section 2A: a new route to the east of SH1 between Te Hana and the Brynderwyn Hills
• Section 2B: a new route to the near east of SH1 at the Brynderwyn Hills
• Section 2C: a new route to the west of SH1 between the Brynderwyn Hills and Port Marsden Highway

Section 3: Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei

• Section 3A: a new road near to SH1 between Port Marsden Highway and SH15 Loop Road
• Section 3B: a widened existing SH1 corridor approaching urban Whangārei

Frequently asked questions

What is an emerging preferred corridor?

It is a larger study area than the final route will be. Within the corridor there are still several different places the final road may go, and the width of the area varies due to geology and other constraints. The next step will be to do a range of ground and environmental investigations within the study area to inform our design so we understand more about where the final road should go, and the land we may require for it.

How will I know if my property is potentially affected?

We understand the announcement may cause some uncertainty for landowners who may be wondering if their property will be affected.

We will start contacting all potentially affected landowners from May onwards to confirm their property is within the emerging preferred corridor and advise the next steps. Having a property within this study area does not necessarily mean it will be affected or that it (or part of it) will need to be purchased in the future.

See more information in our landowners info sheet here

Next steps

Between April and August, we will continue design investigations within the emerging preferred corridor to test our thinking and help us refine the proposed route. We will also continue to work with our iwi and hapū partners and key stakeholders to ensure we are delivering the most informed option.

We expect to take our preferred route to the NZTA Board for endorsement in August - September this year and following that, we will be able to provide more information on the preferred route.

See the timeline for Sections 2 and 3 here

Section 1 update: Ara Tūhono - Warkworth to Te Hana

We are busy working at pace on Section 1 Ara Tūhono - Warkworth to Te Hana. The project will be delivered as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the procurement process began last month. The successful PPP partner will be responsible for the financing, design, construction and maintenance of the road. Once they are on board next year, detailed design and construction is expected to begin at the end of 2026.

We’ll share more of our progress on this section in the next edition of the newsletter.

A helicopter is delivering part of a drilling rig to the Dome Valley for geotechnical investigations to help refine the design.

More information

For more information on the Northland Corridor, please visit nzta.govt.nz/projects/northland-corridor or contact us at NorthlandProject@nzta.govt.nz