Puhoi Rd Talks Start

in Motorways by Jon C — June 22, 2010 at 4:27 pm | 3 comments

NZTA planning for a new State Highway One from Puhoi to Wellsford Road  is stepping up a gear this week with the start of direct consultation with communities.

NZTA has three proposals on the table:

• The new highway will be entirely separate from the existing SH1
• Drivers will have access points to the highway at Warkworth and Wellsford
• The new highway will pass Warkworth to the west, and Wellsford to the east

Public consultation will include engaging with local communities, road users and key stakeholders such as local authorities and emergency services in the northern Rodney and the wider Northland and Auckland regions.

The NZTA says it wants to use local knowledge to help the next stage of planning for the route selection.

“We want as much feedback as possible from communities as their views will play an important role as we get into detailed planning for the route this new highway is going to take,” says Tommy Parker, State Highway Manager - Auckland and Northland.

“No planning has been done on where exactly the new highway will go as we would like the community to help us,” Mr Parker says.

“There is a lot of local knowledge in communities that we want to tap into.

“This could include a range of topics such as natural areas, historic sites, cultural and community sites, landslips and unstable land.  There is no substitute for local knowledge.”

As part of consultation NZTA will also be visiting local properties.  People from the project team will be contacting some landowners in northern Rodney to learn more about their area.

“I want to reassure people that this doesn’t mean the highway will run through these properties” says Mr Parker. “However, it is necessary for technical specialists to get out and view the land to locate the best route.”

Consultation will run for the next five weeks with feedback closing on 26 July.

Tags: NZTA. Puhoi to Wellsford SHI Warkworth