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Tauriko Enabling Works

Project update

19 December 2024

Tēnā koe and welcome to the State Highway 29 (SH29) Tauriko Enabling Works project update.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and Tauranga City Council are progressing this programme of work to improve safety and enable development in and around Tauriko.

As we prepare to wrap up works for another year, here’s an overview of what’s been completed, what’s coming up and what people can expect to see over the holidays.


	SH29 Tauriko Enabling Works ramping up at Cambridge Road Construction is now underway on Cambridge Road in preparation for a new signalised intersection with SH29. In order to upgrade the SH29/Cambridge Road intersection with traffic lights, we first need to build a retaining wall on Cambridge Road to ensure the road is safe and wide enough to accommodate increased traffic in the future. To prepare for the retaining wall, we’re installing sheet piling in the Cambridge Road area from now until early 2025. Sheet piling involves driving large interlocking steel sheets into the ground creating a barrier to support excavation and resist soil and water movement. This will help stabilise this section of Cambridge Road before retaining wall work begins here in late January. We’re installing the sheet piles in stages, starting at each end and finishing with the middle section in early 2025. This has been planned to minimise disruption to traffic during the busy Christmas period. To enable work to progress in the narrow middle section, a short section of the northbound lane on Cambridge Road, from the SH29 intersection to 563 Cambridge Road, will be closed from Monday 6 January until early February. All Bethlehem-bound vehicles will be required to detour via SH29 Takitimu Drive Toll Road or SH29A and Cameron Road. The southbound lane of Cambridge Road will remain open. How will this work impact your travel? Temporary traffic management will be in place throughout the duration of these works and will include lane shifts, a northbound lane closure, reduced speed limits and mobile operations:  24/7 Cambridge Road northbound lane closure and detour from Monday 6 January until early February. SH29 Bethlehem-bound traffic - all SH29 Bethlehem-bound traffic will be required to use alternative routes via SH29 Takitimu Drive Toll Road or SH29A and Cameron Road. The detour routes are expected to add approximately 15 minutes to travel via SH29 Takitimu Drive Toll Road, and approximately 22 minutes via SH29A and Cameron Road. The free heavy vehicle detour is via SH29A & SH2.  A 60km/h speed limit will apply on all SH29 approaches to the intersection, and a 30km/h speed limit on the section of Cambridge Road around the work site. Local residents, businesses and visitors should be prepared for moderate disruption in the area during the works. Work will occur Monday to Saturday, between 7am and 6pm, to complete this work as quickly as possible.  Access for Cambridge Road residents from SH29 will be via the detours. We acknowledge the inconvenience this causes to residents and we’re committed to completing this work as quickly as possible. The southbound lane will remain open. Cambridge businesses will remain open as usual. This work has been timed to minimise disruption by maximising works during the school holidays when traffic is lighter. NZTA thanks drivers, local residents and businesses for their patience and understanding.



	Tauriko School (in the image, left) – work is underway on the new school car park, as well as the northern access road into the new community at Tauriko West. SH29/Tauriko Village Progress has been made within the Tauriko Village, where buildings have been removed and excavation is ongoing to prepare for the construction of a new road. The new road will provide access to the northern part of Tauriko West and also links SH29 to a new, safer car park for Tauriko School.



	The Redwood Lane/SH29 roundabout (bottom right) taking shape. Across the road you can see the beginnings of a road at the new section of Kaweroa Drive, which will link the new roundabout to Tauriko Business Estate (top section of photo). Redwood Lane Further south at the Redwood Lane section of works, the roundabout is taking shape. The team marked a special milestone recently with laying kerbing and asphalt on the surface of the new tie-in lanes north of the roundabout. Three asphalt surface layers have now been laid, with just 1 to go on much of this section. The new underpass below SH29, which will link Redwood Lane to the Tauriko Business Estate, has been backfilled from the ground to the top of the tunnel. Completion of this key step has enabled a concrete stabilising layer to be laid, which is currently underway. The new SH29 lanes will be built over the top of this underpass. Meanwhile, the construction team has been busy asphalting the new northern lanes of SH29, undertaking stormwater works and finalising landscaping at the SH29/Belk Road intersection. This intersection will eventually close after the new roundabout is open. Construction is also underway on the other side of SH29, for the new section of Kaweroa Drive, which will link the new roundabout to the Tauriko Business Estate. Currently earthworks and stormwater construction are the main focus here. Coming up... In the new year, the team will begin removing the existing Redwood Lane road seal to complete the roundabout formation and future access road. This will involve temporarily shifting Redwood Lane slightly to the south through the work site, allowing the existing road to be excavated and the new road constructed. The temporary road will rejoin the existing Redwood Lane near the SH29 intersection. Access to properties will remain throughout these works.

Preparing Taurikua Drive for the future

From late March 2025 Taurikura Drive, between SH36 and Whiore Ave, will be upgraded in order to cater to higher traffic volumes and ease anticipated congestion along this route.

Part of the upgrade will include a signalised intersection replacing the existing roundabout at the main entrance of Tauranga Crossing.

Tauranga City Council, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and Tauranga Crossing Limited are working together closely to design and plan for the delivery of the works to reduce traffic disruption as much as possible. Tauranga Crossing and BP Tauriko will remain open as normal during the works period.

Find out more.



	'Touch a Truck and Digger Day' at Tauriko School. Connecting with our community As with all major construction projects, we take our neighbourly duties very seriously. Tauriko School is a close neighbour to the work site in Tauriko Village, where works are underway to build a new road, a signalised intersection, and widen SH29 for a new shared cycleway and footpath. To foster this relationship, we’ve made the most of opportunities to engage with the school staff and tamariki. This included hosting a ‘Touch a Truck and Digger Day’ last week where tamariki and teachers were able to meet some of the construction team, ask questions, and get up close to some of the larger machinery they can see being used in the paddocks next door. The school was also selected as a recipient of 2 bikes by our contractors, Downer, which were assembled as part of a team-building event at a recent Downer leadership conference. Tauriko School Principal Suzanne Billington was thrilled to receive the bikes, saying they will be used to support the school’s upcoming bike safety programme. Further to this, the project’s survey team attended the school’s athletics day where they took drone footage of the activities (pictured below) while also recording aerial footage of the school facilities and grounds to document the school’s history before the upcoming changes. Work outside the school and through Tauriko Village will make the road much safer for the tamariki and their families, including an upgraded and safer car park for the school.


	Tauriko School Principal Suzanne Billington, along with the 2 head students and Downer Stakeholder and Communications Manager Rebekah Mason.



	Meet the team This is Dave from Downer’s Tauriko Enabling Works construction team. Dave is a Site Traffic Management Specialist for Downer NZ – his main job is to keep traffic flowing by reducing the effect of roadworks. Dave's workday starts at 6:30am when he checks all the trucks and machines needed for the day, making sure they’re ready to go and radios are working. Onsite he'll check the site speed radars are working – they monitor every vehicle passing through the site to ensure people are travelling safely. Those are just some of his responsibilities, which also include being in charge of moving the larger trucks and machinery from one part of the site to another via rolling blocks – that's where you might see a large truck with flashing arrows guiding trucks or machinery a short distance along the highway. Dave is always up for a challenge and has been working on the roads for 35 years, back when 44-gallon drums were used as barriers. Like many roadworkers, over the years, Dave has been spat at, abused, and has even had items thrown at him. Dave and the team unfortunately see a lot of reckless driving behaviour from people which puts their lives at risk. But Dave also sees the benefits of his work – when people travel through the finished product, enjoying a quicker and safer journey. Thanks to Dave and the team for keeping everyone safe who drive through Tauriko. When you see roadworkers out on the road, travel safely through their worksites, follow signage and any instructions you receive, and give them a wave to say thanks for their tremendous work.

In brief

Between October 2024 and May 2025 there are 9 significant sites on the Bay of Plenty side of the Kaimai Range where we’re rebuilding and resurfacing the road. More information.
Meanwhile on the Waikato side of SH29 progress continues on the new Piarere roundabout, with 2 of 3 permanent approach roads now open to traffic. Read more here.
Plan ahead these holidays using the NZTA Journey planner. Visit nzta.govt.nz/journey-planner

Thank you and happy holidays!

We’d like to thank everyone once again their patience and understanding during the Tauriko Enabling Works project construction.

The project team will be taking a break over the Christmas period, with the last work day being Friday 20 December, returning to site Monday 6 January.

During the shutdown period there will be regular site checks and minimal temporary traffic management in place.

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.