Notice of Requirement

The project has reached a major milestone with the release of the Panel of Commissioners' recommendation report on the road designation, issued on behalf of Palmerston North City, Tararua District and Manawatū District Councils on 24 May 2019.  The Panel recommended the project should proceed, subject to conditions. The recommendation report has been published on the Palmerston North City Council website.

The Transport Agency has considered the Panel’s recommendations and has by and large accepted all the proposed conditions. 

In particular, the Panel agreed with our proposal to include a sealed shared path for pedestrians and cyclists that is separated from the carriageway as part of the project, and a $1 million fund to create additional recreational paths that connect to the project.

The Panel has also largely agreed with the proposed approach to managing effects on AgResearch’s field trial at Ballantrae Station. However, we have adjusted a Panel proposed condition which would require the road to be aligned to avoid an area of the field trial known as Big Hill as this is not practicably possible. Instead, this condition will require effects on this area to be minimised.

We will also establish a fund for the benefit of AgResearch for ongoing research at the trail site or elsewhere.

The final decision and conditions are now available on our website.

Councils are required to notify the decision within 15 working days of receipt from the NZ Transport Agency, and any appeal on the decision needs to be filed with the Environment Court within 15 working days after that notification.

Construction works

We are making good progress with planning our enabling works. These works are required before the main construction of the new road can begin. Essentially, this work is about giving us good access to the proposed transport corridor.

We are working closely with Horizons Regional Council and aim to lodge the first round of applications for regional consents for these works with them in the next month or so. We will be working with landowners, iwi and councils as we progress the design of the enabling works which we expect to get underway in the summer.

We are currently evaluating the two Alliance tenders for the design, consenting and construction of the project and are on target to make an announcement on a preferred Alliance partner in early July. Soon after, we will be holding public information sessions and we will let you know details of these in due course.

Long road to reconnecting Manawatū and Hawke's Bay

Like most major transport projects, our journey on Te Ahu a Turanga has its challenges. A recent article by our project sponsor Sarah Downs summarises some of the key events which got us to where we are today. It’s a good read as Sarah sets the scene:

“It's Monday 24 April, 2017. The weather has been horrendous and two massive slips have rumbled down the southern hillside of the Manawatū Gorge, completely burying parts of State Highway 3.”

You can read the rest of the article here on the Manawatū Standard website.

Visiting schools

The project team has been visiting schools in the Manawatū and Tararua regions to explain the work we do to students and to find out how our work affects schools, pupils and their families.

We have already visited nine schools – some of these as far as Pongaroa!

As part of the presentation, we give students and teachers an overview of the work the NZ Transport Agency does and what each one of us can do to keep safe on the road.

We are getting great feedback on these visits. If you know of a school which has not been visited yet but would like to, please email us at teahuaturanga@nzta.govt.nz

BELOW: Students at Ballance School (aged 5 – 12) have given us ideas on how the new road might look 

Detour route works

There will be a westbound lane closure of Saddle Road for this week until 15 June 2019 from 8.30am to 2.30pm. Please be aware this will include Saturday as well.

During this time, we will raise the seal on the Ashhurst roundabout to create a smoother surface and make it easier for heavy vehicles to navigate the roundabout.

We have decided to close the Saddle Road in the westbound direction during this time to reduce the volume of traffic through the roundabout which will be operating a stop-go system.

We are also finalising plans for ongoing maintenance and improvements programme on the detour routes (Saddle Road, Ballance Valley Road and Pahīatua Track).

More information

If you have any questions or want to give us feedback, please drop us a line at teahuaturanga@nzta.govt.nz and we will get back to you within three working days, or you can call us on 0800 740 560.