Waikato Expressway extension to Piarere endorsed by Waka Kotahi Board
The Waikato Expressway, which currently finishes south of Cambridge, is one step closer to being extended to Piarere after the Waka Kotahi Board recently endorsed the business case.
Waka Kotahi can now progress to protect the preferred route.
The Notice of Requirement will be prepared and lodged under the Resource Management Act (RMA) to enable route protection, which is the identification and protection of land which will be the footprint for future public work.
This will offer property owners, businesses and the community certainty on where the transport route will be in the future and route protection will enable people to make informed decisions about their own land and the development of that land.
The application will also involve the lodgement of regional consents to address the requirements of the Waikato Regional Council. It is planned to submit these in the later part of 2022, subject to completing RMA assessments as scheduled.
As part of developing the applications, further consultation and discussions with landowners, mana whenua, local government, the community, and local businesses will continue. There will be opportunities for the community to get involved soon.
Once route protection is secured, the next stages, after funding is confirmed, include detailed design, tendering and construction.
No funding has yet been allocated for construction of the 16km extension and is not expected until later in the decade. However route protection is a very important step to ensure we are ready to proceed if and when funding is made available.
The total cost of the project is currently estimated to be approximately $635m. There is no funding available in the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) to prioritise this project for detailed design and construction before the 2027 – 2030 period.
Further information, including the Detailed Business Case and a copy of the map of the proposed route (pictured below) is available on this link.
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