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RNZ News
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Manawatū Tararua Highway opens
transport infrastructure 26 minutes ago The four-laned, 11.5 kilometre Te Ahu a Tararanga - linking Manawatū and Tararua - officially opened to traffic on Wednesday. Principal project manager Grant Kauri spoke to Charlotte Cook.
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Te Ahu a Turanga - Manawatū Tararua Highway open for motorists
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi has announced eight years after the Manawatū Gorge Road closed its replacement is open to the public. Te Ahu a Turanga is a 11.5-kilometre four-lane highway that runs between Palmerston North, weaving through windfarms to the Tararua town of Woodville. The $824 million route replaces the State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge which was shut due to slips in 2017. Project manager Grant Kauri said the sight of the first vehicles on the road on Wednesday morning was a special moment. "The closure of the Manawatū Gorge Road had such a significant impact on people in Manawatū and Tararua. "We know the surrounding communities have struggled with the closure so being able to build them a significantly more resilient, safer and efficient road has been a huge privilege." Kauri said it would encourage more travel and support economic growth in the lower and central North Island and the East Coast. Joy Kopa, from the Positively Woodville community group, said residents and businesses in the town had been holding their breath for the opening. "It is strange to think we now have a young generation who have never travelled through 'the gorge' and have no memory of the road that served Woodville for so long. "This new highway will be the new gateway to Tararua and Woodville is proud to be the town that welcomes travellers to our district." Stakeholders at the ribbon cutting ceremony last Saturday. Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the road on Saturday . At the time Transport Minister Chris Bishop said it was an important day for the local communities. "It has been a very large investment from the government but a very important one, and it's going to be a fantastic resilient new road and be one that will last for generations to come." It's expected the 11.5km route will take less than 15 minutes to drive, an improvement on the windy alternative routes over the Saddle Road and Pahiatua Track that were in use for the past eight years. Chair of Horizons Regional Council Rachel Keedwell said she hoped the new highway would be a much safer drive then the alternatives. Horizons Regional Council spanned communities on both sides of the ranges, and Keedwell said the closure had been a big deal for the Tararua District in particular. "It's impacted on how people get to work, it's impacted on how the community joins in to Palmerston North, and financially, people have borne the brunt of that, businesses as well as locals, and so bringing the connection back together it just makes it seamless from one side of the region to the other."
NZ Herald
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Herald
A first look at the North Island's long-awaited new highway
The road will open in June, on a date not yet set. Tour guide and NZ Transport Agency project spokesman Grant Kauri said the views on the road were amazing, including the peak through the gorge when starting out. 'You can see the old Manawatū Gorge road, with Ruahine and Tararua maunga and the Manawatū River in the background. It's absolutely stunning.' Clearly visible is the slip that closed the road through the gorge for a year in 2011-12, five years before more slips closed it for good. In 2021 construction began on the new $825 million highway. It's expected the 11.5km route will take less than 15 minutes to drive, a big improvement on the windy and slow alternative routes in use for the past eight years. 'We're going up a 9.5% grade over a stretch of about 3km. In terms of context and what the fuel will be like it's similar to Transmission Gully,' Kauri said as we climbed towards the road's summit. It's actually slightly steeper than that highway, north of Wellington. As we head towards Woodville, through the wind turbines, the road here looks pretty well ready to use. 'Along the main alignment itself [we're] finishing off the final surface of the asphalt, followed by the line marking and the median barrier installation,' Kauri said. 'We still have a number of works open off the main alignment itself.' Some of that is on the new walking and cycling track that snakes along near the road. At the summit, as the road carves through the hills, Kauri said ground conditions were challenging because of how wet it was. So, the road builders got rid of the unstable material, replaced it with something better and compacted it. There are about 300 workers still onsite and some would remain after the road opened, completing tasks such as drainage and planting. As the road drops towards Woodville, at the Tararua end, the slope isn't quite as steep. Unlike the old gorge road, on the unstable northern Tararua Range, ground conditions here mean slips are unlikely. Kauri said working on the project was a career highlight – something he never envisaged when he began in the industry and used to work on the old road. 'In my former life I was responsible for clearing some of the slips in the Manawatū Gorge. I remember some of the late callouts in the middle of the night – raining, windy.' Covid, Cyclone Gabrielle and challenging ground conditions were the toughest parts of this road build, he said.
RNZ News
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
A first look at the North Island's long-awaited new highway
The four-lane highway snakes through hills and between wind turbines. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham Most of the tarseal is down, many of the barriers are up, and there's fresh paint lining the route. The long-awaited new road connecting the lower North Island's eastern and western sides is just weeks away from opening. The views from the lower slopes of the Ruahine Range are breathtaking, as RNZ experienced on a drive over the four-lane Te Ahu a Turanga - Manawatū Tararua Highway on Thursday. We started at the Ashhurst, Manawatū, end, beginning about where the old State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge ran, before crossing the Manawatū River on the first of two viaducts, and then entering a steep climb. The road will open in June, on a date not yet set. Tour guide and NZ Transport Agency project spokesman Grant Kauri said the views on the road were amazing, including the peak through the gorge when starting out. "You can see the old Manawatū Gorge road, with Ruahine and Tararua maunga and the Manawatū River in the background. It's absolutely stunning." Clearly visible is the slip that closed the road through the gorge for a year in 2011-12, five years before more slips closed it for good. The old State Highway 3 is visible to the right, and the 2011-12 slip has left a clear scar. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham In 2021 construction began on the new $825 million highway. It's expected the 11.5km route will take less than 15 minutes to drive, a big improvement on the windy and slow alternative routes in use for the past eight years. "We're going up a 9.5 percent grade over a stretch of about 3 kilometres. In terms of context and what the fuel will be like it's similar to Transmission Gully," Kauri said as we climbed towards the road's summit. It's actually slightly steeper than that highway, north of Wellington. As we head towards Woodville, through the wind turbines, the road here looks pretty well ready to use. "Along the main alignment itself [we're] finishing off the final surface of the asphalt, followed by the line marking and the median barrier installation," Kauri said. "We still have a number of works open off the main alignment itself." Grant Kauri says working on the new highway is a career highlight. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham Some of that is on the new walking and cycling track that snakes along near the road. At the summit, as the road carves through the hills, Kauri said ground conditions were challenging because of how wet it was. So, the road builders got rid of the unstable material, replaced it with something better and compacted it. There are about 300 workers still onsite and some would remain after the road opened, completing tasks such as drainage and planting. As the road drops towards Woodville, at the Tararua end, the slope isn't quite as steep. Unlike the old gorge road, on the unstable northern Tararua Range, ground conditions here mean slips are unlikely. Kauri said working on the project was a career highlight - something he never envisaged when he began in the industry and used to work on the old road. "In my former life I was responsible for clearing some of the slips in the Manawatū Gorge. I remember some of the late callouts in the middle of the night - raining, windy." Covid, Cyclone Gabrielle and challenging ground conditions were the toughest parts of this road build, he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
