Te Manawaroa o Ngāti Tama Charitable Trust Chair Jamie Tuuta at the land exchange ceremony in early August.

Land exchange and partnership celebrated for Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass

A significant and moving event took place earlier this month to celebrate the exchange of land required for Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass with a block of coastal land of significant cultural value to the project's iwi partner Ngāti Tama.

The land returned to Ngāti Tama is 120 hectares perched above the White Cliffs (Parininihi) of North Taranaki.

In more recent times the area has been referred to as Gilbert Road. As part of the celebrations, Ngāti Tama renamed the block Ngarautika in recognition of the land taken from them by the Crown.

By re-gaining Ngarautika, Ngāti Tama now have direct access to their other Treaty Settlement land, which previously had been enclosed by privately-owned farms

During the ceremony at Pukearuhe Marae, Waka Kotahi Board Deputy Chair Cassandra Crowley presented a framed deed of title for the land to Ngāti Tama Chair Conrad O’Carroll.

Te Manawaroa o Ngāti Tama Charitable Trust Chair Jamie Tuuta said the 120ha provides an opportunity for Ngāti Tama to reconnect with the land.

‘’It’s both symbolic, and from a practical standpoint there’s huge benefit. This whole area was occupied by Ngāti Tama. It’s the land of an old pa site, so it has historic significance, but it’s also relevant today.

‘’Having land back gives the ability of whānau to live and breathe who they are, Ngāti Tama. It’s hard to do that when you don’t have land.’’

Ecologist Roger MacGibbon checks some of the 20,000+ seeds in cold storage since last summer as part of forest restoration for Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass

From the forest to the fridge... and back

From the forest to the fridge and back, 20,000+ seeds are on a journey with Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass.

Around 220,000 native trees, shrubs and grasses will be planted during the project, starting with 1200 that went into the ground at a community planting day last October.

Ecologist Roger MacGibbon says refrigerated seeds collected last summer are about to go to a propagation nursery where they’ll be nurtured into seedlings.

They’ll then come back to a growing nursery in Taranaki to be raised, before being planted back in their original home area.

Roger says it’s important to return naturally sourced plants to the area. “It’s all about restoring forest, with Tawa, Rimu, Totara, Matai - all the big trees - you don’t often get to grow them for a roading project.”

During the project, more than 120,000 plants will go into stream margins, swamp forest and bush, with a further 100,000+ along the roadside and fill slopes.

Excavators and other important equipment are being taken by helicopter into remote areas of the new highway alignment.

Construction and environmental protection working side by side at Mt Messenger

Work on Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass is pressing ahead with the construction of a safer, more resilient route between Taranaki and the Waikato alongside significant biodiversity enhancement in the surrounding area, for decades to come.

Progress on both fronts is well underway, with the most visible activity being the recent helicopter lifts of three excavators into a remote area of the new highway alignment. The excavators will allow the Mt Messenger Alliance to continue work on the northern anchor point of the project’s 1.1km cableway, which will take machinery and personnel into the heart of the build.

While the excavators get to work, the project is building a kiwi fence in bush around the northern anchor point as a safety net to keep kiwi and other wildlife clear of the work area.

The team’s ecologists have been monitoring kiwi in the area for many years, fitting them with radio tracking collars to understand the size of their territories and ensure the project is aware of their whereabouts, says Waka Kotahi Principal Project Manager Chris Nally.

“Throughout the project we’ll be taking a number of measures to protect kiwi, including the use of specialist dogs and handlers to detect kiwi without radio tracking collars. Any kiwi at risk of harm will be carefully moved to a safe part of their territory.”

The project is also committed to protecting other native wildlife in the area, including long-tailed bats, lizards and freshwater fish. Development of a 3,650ha pest management area on either side of the new route will play a key role in minimising the threats from predators such as rats, stoats, ferrets and possums.

As works progress, the current stop/go controls on SH3 adjacent to the project site will continue from 7am to 5pm daily, including weekends, for approximately 70% of the time, until at least the end of September. As at present, delays are expected to be no more than 15 minutes.

The passing lane at Ladies Mile, east of Awakino.

Four-year safety programme wraps up

A four-year programme of safety improvements between Awakino Gorge and Mt Messenger has come to an end, with the completion of an upgraded intersection at Tongapōrutu.

The State Highway 3/Clifton Road intersection has been made wider, with improved drainage and side barriers to make it safer for traffic accessing the nearby baches and Three Sisters walk.

Further north, a 1.6 kilometre northbound passing lane has been built at Rapanui, while a southbound passing lane has been built at Ladies Mile, east of Awakino, to provide safer overtaking opportunities along the winding highway between the Awakino Gorge and Mt Messenger.

Other works completed over the past few years include a number of retaining walls within the Awakino Gorge to stabilise the slopes next to the road, slow vehicle bays, safer roadside barriers and electronic warning signs.

For more about the safety works please visit our website. 

The rest area and pathway adjacent to the Awakino Tunnel Bypass.

Final surface at Awakino Tunnel Bypass later this year

Over summer the final surface will be laid on the site of the Awakino Tunnel Bypass, marking final completion of the project. 

Since the road was opened to traffic with a temporary surface in mid-2021, investigations have been ongoing to find the best option for the final surface.

A temporary speed limit of 50kph has been in place, to ensure the safety of traffic while we work to confirm the best option for the final surfacing.

We have recently performed some works to improve the temporary surface, and as a result will be increasing the speed limit to 70kph in the coming weeks.

The 400-metre section of the Awakino Tunnel Bypass west of the bridges was surfaced in April using a robust asphaltic concrete surfacing material and is the final surfacing for that section.

A small section of the northbound passing lane was modified in May, with performance of this treatment being monitored over winter.

Once the proposed treatment is confirmed the surfacing work will be carried out when the weather is warmer. After this is done, and the speed limit raised to 100kph, the northbound passing lane will be opened for traffic.

More information

For more information on the Awakino Gorge to Mt Messenger Programme, contact us at SH3@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/a2mm