SH2 Waihī to Ōmokoroa

Safety Improvements Project Update

11 July 2023

Waihī to Ōmokoroa safety improvements

We reached a huge milestone in the past month, with the team finishing the original scope of Works between Waihī and Ōmokoroa.

The completion of the road widening has enabled the focus to move onto the installation of median barriers and construction of roundabouts south of Katikati.

In this newsletter we take a closer look at some of the amazing work that’s been done.

Work to improve this 40km corridor, including road and shoulder widening, flexible road safety side barriers in high-risk areas, wider centrelines, and intersection improvements, has been underway since 2016 when the business case was completed. 

Additional scope was approved in 2022, adding further safety improvements including the installation of flexible median barriers and additional intersection upgrades to provide safe turnaround points between Katikati and Ōmokoroa.

It’s been a busy few years, some of the highlights include:

• Sealed 26 rugby fields-worth of road surface

• Built 1,145 meters of retaining walls either side of the state highway

• Employed over 100 local staff

• Installed 37km of roadside barrier

• Worked in partnership with the hapū of Te Whānau a Tauwhao, with support from Ngāti Te Wai, Ngāi Tamawhariua and Pirirākau to restore 5.3 hectares of wetland at Te Waiau awa near Athenree

• Constructed 2 roundabouts - and we’re now moving on to number 3 at Sharp Road

So, a massive thank you to all of those in the community that have shown kindness and patience during this work.

With winter upon us our work will be more heavily dictated by the weather and you may see some stretches of the project under traffic management, even though no work is taking place. Please be mindful of these sites; they remain hazardous, with narrow lanes, steep drop-offs, and other risks – so we ask that you follow the temporary speed limits and drive to the conditions.

All eyes on Sharp Road

The team is now shifting their focus to Sharp Road with early works starting in June. This involves our teams doing things such as tree-felling, service relocations and making a start on earthworks and drainage.

The work will be broken up into stages:

Stage 1 – shifting the traffic to the northbound side while we build as much of the southbound as we can.

Stage 2 – shifting the traffic to the south bound side while we build as much northbound as we can.

Stage 3 – shifting southbound traffic to the southbound side and northbound traffic to the northbound side while we build the roundabout.

As always, we will try our best to always maintain two-way traffic flow on State Highway 2. Major activities such as construction of the asphalt layers will be done overnight, however at times there will be some short-term activities that can’t be done overnight and will require Stop/Go traffic management.

Matariki Bennett (Engineer, Beca), Morgan Walsh (Construction Manager, HEB), Kevin McGrath (Stakeholder Engagement Manager, HEB) and Richard Garrett (Marketing Manager, HEB) accepting the Excellence in Road Safety award on behalf of the project.

And the winner is…

Our project took out the Excellence in Road Safety category at the Institute of Public Works in Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) Asset Management Excellence Awards. This award recognises the extraordinary partnership of complementary expertise between Waka Kotahi, HEB and Beca and has led to unprecedented quality in asset design, planning, financial and risk management, and delivery.

The awards were held in Rotorua in late June and a few of the team were there in person on the night to receive the award on behalf of the project.

Nice work team!

Winter is here, and so is more wet weather

The dark and often rainy months from May to September are the time our state highways are most at risk from damage, with water the main culprit.

What’s more, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency can’t do full road resealing or repair works over winter – these need warm and dry conditions. Usually, this means summer, but the record rain experienced by much of Aotearoa so far in 2023 created a big challenge for Waka Kotahi and its road maintenance team this season.

Still, despite all the weather could throw at us, Waka Kotahi contractors resealed or replaced a significant 488 kilometres on Waikato and Bay of Plenty highways over the summer. That’s the length of nearly five thousand rugby fields, or a road trip from Cambridge to Wellington.

It is also nearly a quarter of the total resealing and repairing work done across the entire state highway network this season, underlining the agency’s investment in this vital economic region.

We ask, if you are travelling in wet and wintery conditions to take extra precaution, slow down through the work sites and remember to allow for extra time for your journey.

Read the Waka Kotahi media release for more information.

The ins and outs of roundabouts

Did you know it can take up to two years to plan and design a roundabout – and a large part of this work happens before you even see trucks on site.  

View our short video on how we go from the concept right through to the construction of a roundabout.

For more information on the SH2 Waihī to Ōmokoroa safety improvements, contact us at bopprojects@nzta.govt.nz.

You can also visit our website at www.nzta.govt.nz/sh2-waihi-to-tauranga-corridor.