Counting down to opening night

A flurry of finishing touches is being added behind the scenes as Bay Link counts down to the overnight partial opening of the new Te Maunga interchange early next month.

The interchange, at the intersection of State Highways 2 and 29A, is currently scheduled to partially open in early July – a milestone which will bring to fruition years of planning, design and construction.

Many locals will remember the intersection prior to the start of construction on the Bay Link project (pictured below in October 2017), when a lone tree occupied a small Te Maunga roundabout.

SH2/29A Te Maunga interchange in early June 2022

Now, Te Maunga is home to a new roundabout on SH29A, two bridges and three of the four ‘legs’ of the interchange (pictured above). Work to complete the fourth leg, the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) off-ramp, will commence once the interchange has been partially opened.

Did you know?

Earlier this year, the Bay Link project recorded over 1 million hours worked, many of which have been spent constructing the interchange.

The two bridges, which together span the East Coast Main Trunk railway line and SH2 with 22 reinforced concrete beams, will remove the need for people to cross the railway line at ground level and allow vehicles to flow more freely onto TEL.

Eight retaining walls and two rail impact walls have also been built, with a further two retaining walls to come as part of the TEL off-ramp. The longest retaining wall, which runs some 280m between SH2 and the back of Eversham Road, extends up to 10m high (pictured below).

The slipform paver machine leaving a line of freshly minted barriers in its wake

The interchange has also been home to a slipform paver machine over the last few months. This specialist piece of German machinery, believed to be one of few of its type in New Zealand, has been used for barrier construction. Unlike precast barriers (which are manufactured offsite) or in situ barriers (where concrete is poured into stationary formwork on site), the slipform machine produces barriers while in motion. Concrete is added to one end of the machine as it moves slowly forward, leaving a line of freshly minted barriers in its wake (pictured above).

The asphalt on the interchange is the single largest area completed on Bay Link to date. Over three weeks in April, 3,350 tonnes of deep lift asphalt were placed in two layers, each up to 200mm thick, over 16,942m2 – an area larger than two rugby fields.

Since the beginning of June, line marking has also been applied to this new road surface – some 10.5km of edge lines, centre lines, limit lines and other road markings.

Significant changes for road users

Once the interchange is partially opened early next month, significant changes are expected for all road users in the area.

Further information, including a video of how the interchange will operate, is available at nzta.govt.nz/temaunga.

The new SH29A roundabout will be commissioned while both the existing Baypark/Truman Lane roundabout and the signalised intersection at Te Maunga will be removed.

People travelling on SH2 from Bayfair towards TEL or SH29A, and on SH29A towards SH2/Bayfair or TEL, will use the interchange. Those travelling on TEL towards SH2/Bayfair will be able to proceed straight on the existing road (underneath the interchange).

Once the interchange is available for use, there will be no left turn available from TEL onto SH29A for approximately five months while the TEL off-ramp is completed. Motorists travelling on TEL towards SH29A will need to use the Sandhurst off-ramp, Mangatawa Link Road and Truman Lane. If motorists miss this detour, alternative access to SH29A is via SH2 towards the Bayfair roundabout, a full turn around the roundabout back towards TEL and the interchange off-ramp.

Pedestrians and cyclists will be able to cross SH2 via the interchange and a new signalised crossing. A temporary marked route will link Eversham Road (via the Eversham walkway or Te Maunga Lane) with the signals and Truman Lane.

Motorists are encouraged to drive with care while adjusting to the new layouts and allow extra time when travelling, especially during the morning and evening peak times. A 50km/h temporary speed limit will be in place once the interchange is partially open.

Recent changes on Bay Link

Halfway through 2022, the Bay Link project is progressing towards programme milestones at both ends of the project. In recent weeks, the following activities have been underway.

Bayfair end:

• A further six bridge beams have been landed on the third span of the Bayfair flyover (pictured), following the installation of the first two spans in April 2022. The bridge deck for these first two spans will be poured later this month. Beams for the final span are expected to be installed later this winter and the flyover is expected to open to motorists in autumn 2023.
• After the underpass became available to pedestrians and cyclists in a temporary configuration in April 2022, the former temporary signalised crossing outside Bayfair Shopping Centre was decommissioned and the work zone in the middle of SH2 enlarged. This has enabled construction to begin on the northern ramp of the Bayfair flyover, with the three retaining walls already about 35% complete.

Te Maunga end:

• The new Te Maunga interchange has been prepared for its partial opening under temporary traffic management. Asphalt, footpaths, streetlights, traffic signals, temporary line marking, guard rails and signs have all been installed. Below, finishing touches are applied to barriers on the interchange.

Looking ahead

The partial opening of Te Maunga interchange scheduled for early July will open up several work areas that motorists currently drive through. Once this switch has taken place, the following activities will get underway:

• Road reconstruction will begin on SH2 underneath the interchange next to the remaining SH2 lanes carrying traffic from TEL towards Bayfair. All existing roads within the extent of the Bay Link site are being replaced, including this section of SH2. More than 79,000m2 of road is being constructed as part of the project.
• The TEL off-ramp will progress once the existing traffic signals at Te Maunga intersection have been decommissioned. This ramp needs to be built up to the height of the interchange before being readied for use – a process which is expected to take approximately five months.
• Construction will begin on the Truman Lane walkway which will feature stairs and a ramp descending from the interchange towards Truman Lane on the site of the current Baypark/Truman Lane roundabout. This work is one of the final pieces of the puzzle that will improve walking and cycling connectivity between Bayfair and Baypark, and is expected to open to the public in autumn 2023.

More information

For more information on the Baypark to Bayfair Link upgrade project, contact us baylink@nzta.govt.nz

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