Connecting Tairāwhiti

Project update

22 September 2023

Tēnā koe,

Welcome to our latest issue of the Connecting Tairāwhiti e-newsletter.

There’s a lot of work to do and projects are in the pipeline that will improve state highway resilience and safety, and improve journeys across Tairāwhiti and our roading network. We will keep you informed and encourage you to regularly check Journey Planner.

The warmer months are also the best time to do major maintenance works, such as resurfacing our highways, as warmer temperatures and dry air help new seal stick to the road surface. That’s why often people notice roadworks ramping-up during summer. The heat also brings with it some challenges for roading crews.

The next Connecting Tairāwhiti will also be a summer one, as the e-newsletter moves back to being a quarterly edition. The Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) Alliance will have frequent updates for the community about ongoing recovery and maintenance works.

The latest from Transport Rebuild East Coast Alliance

The Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) Alliance has been set up to plan, organise and deliver much of the recovery and rebuild work needed on the highway and rail networks, in conjunction with local businesses and contractors. Alliance members include Waka Kotahi, KiwiRail, Downer, Fulton Hogan and Higgins.

Ongoing recovery works across Te Tairāwhiti and Te Matau a Māui – Hawke's Bay needed to restore the state highway and rail networks to a functional level will continue through the Alliance. The existing highway maintenance teams from Downer and Higgins will join the Alliance from 1 October.

Future rebuild works that will be focused on improving the resilience of the state highway and rail network will also be managed through the team.

The TREC Alliance has mobilised its first crew to site for recovery work at Te Ngarue Culvert (State Highway 2) and other sites will follow.

The TREC team is currently recruiting locally for a number of roles including construction engineers, managers and supervisors, health and safety advisors, administrators and many more. Contact the team for more information on current and future roles.

Sign up here to receive updates from TREC about ongoing recovery and maintenance works. The first update is expected to be sent next month. (A privacy statement can be read below).

Big summer season for construction and maintenance on the horizon

• The State Highway 35 (SH35) resilience and SH2/SH35 passing opportunities programmes of work are now in their third years of construction.
• SH35 will see a number of resilience projects get underway to strengthen and stabilise the highway with an aim of keeping it open and functional in future weather events. Rock revetment works are planned at Pouawa and Turihaua Point to help to prevent coastal erosion. These works will see extra layers of retaining wall added to the sites for protection. Anticipated works at Busby’s Hill will stabilise the weak hillsides as well as provide a new southbound slow vehicle bay and a mobile phone layby.
• There are 15 sites across SH2 and SH35 that will be underway in what will be a busy season of roadworks for the region.
• Passing opportunities on SH2 will re-start at Mohaka Viaduct and Kopua Hill. Towards Christmas and into the new year an additional seven sites will get underway and these will be communicated closer to the time.
• Seven pavement rehabilitations are planned on SH35 and are fairly evenly spread from Tolaga Bay to Te Araroa. The team hopes to have these completed by Christmas with two crews working simultaneously along the highway to increase efficiency. Each rehab site should take roughly a few weeks to complete.
• There are 34 reseal sites on SH35 that stretch from Tikitiki to Gisborne town. These will also kick-off in October with an aim of being completed by January 2024. This work will be completed under stop/go and is weather dependent.
• On SH2 north, 10 pavement rehabilitations are planned. Across SH2 north and south there are 42 reseal sites all to be completed under stop/go during daytime hours.
• The Waipaoa roundabout will be resealed under nightworks due to traffic numbers and we will communicate these details as we have them.

Watch: Take a look at our video on why summer is the best time of year for road repairs.

SH35 Tatapouri Hill rock fence replacement

Crews are close to completing a new rockfall fence on Tatapouri Hill north. This fence replacement will help to increase the resilience and safety of the area. Stop/go has been in place during these works, and traffic management will be lifted following their completion.

Caption: Crews in action at Tatapouri Hill on SH35.

SH2 Gisborne to Waioeka Gorge asphalting

Crews are continuing to make good progress on the asphalting programme on SH2 north, between Matawai and the Waioeka Gorge. The work at Trafford’s Hill is now complete with crews moving south to Otoko, weather permitting.

While wet weather and cold temperatures have pushed the completion date back by about four weeks, the team has had a great run of stable weather and is confident the work will be finished by late-October.

As a result of these resurfacing works, there have been a number of overnight closures on this stretch of SH2.

Looking ahead to work at Otoko, SH2 will be closed in both directions between Makeretu and Whatatutu at 7pm from Tuesday 26 to Saturday 30 September, weather depending.

Dates and times are subject to change. We thank the community for its patience as these asphalting works are carried out.

An estimated 96,000 square metres of asphalt is expected to have been laid by the end of the programme.

Caption: Work continues on the asphalting programme on SH2 north.

Fees and charges changing on 1 October

We’re changing our fees for driver licensing, vehicle licensing and registration, Road User Charges (RUC) administration, and vehicle certification. Some fees are going up, while others are going down.

From 1 October, the cost of each stage of a driver's licence changes to a flat rate, with fees to re-sit a licence test removed. There are changes to administration fees for rego and Road User Charges and to the prices vehicle certifiers pay for their forms and labels.

Many increases are relatively small. For example, the administration cost to renew your rego online or through an agent like AA increases by around $4.50. The Waka Kotahi portion of a WOF charge increases by around $2.

Check out www.nzta.govt.nz/funding-and-fees for the changes to fees and for more information.

Wandering stock a safety concern

Together with New Zealand Police we continue to remind East Coast stock owners to keep an eye on their livestock to avoid someone getting killed or seriously injured due to wandering animals.

The severe weather seen this year has caused significant damage to infrastructure throughout the East Coast, including fencing on farmland bordering state highways.

Our contractors have been called out to an increasing number of instances of animals alongside our state highways in Tairāwhiti, particularly on SH35. These callouts utilise contractor resources usually reserved for road maintenance.

Police are also regularly advised of wandering stock, and with each incident there is the potential for serious injury.

You can watch our video on the topic below.

Keep up to date

It’s a challenging time to travel around Tairāwhiti. Roads are vulnerable to closures at short notice in wet weather, and repair works may cause delays and road closures at times. Please check Journey Planner before your trip and drive to the conditions.

Traffic updates: Tairāwhiti
Facebook: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency - Hawke's Bay and Gisborne
Twitter: Waka Kotahi CNI
Journey Planner: Tairāwhiti
Phone: 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49)
Highway access maps: Gisborne

Subscribing to this newsletter

TREC privacy statement: If you subscribe to updates or newsletters from Waka Kotahi on behalf of the TREC Alliance, we need to collect your name and email address so that we can add you to the mailing list. For full information on how Waka Kotahi will collect, store, use and share your personal information, please refer to Waka Kotahi’s general privacy statement and in particular the project updates and newsletters Privacy Statement. You can unsubscribe at any time, just click the unsubscribe button on the project update or newsletter email.

Please feel free to share this Connecting Tairāwhiti newsletter with your networks and encourage them to subscribe below to stay well informed about what’s happening on our region's highways. 

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More information

In between newsletters, you can keep up with the latest news on the recovery in Tairāwhiti online at nzta.govt.nz. Find the latest updates on road closures, highway conditions, and progress on recovery all in one place.

For more information on the Connecting Tairāwhiti project, contact us at ConnectingTairawhiti@nzta.govt.nz or visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/ConnectingTairawhiti