Kapiti Expressway takes shape

Contractors putting the Kapiti Expressway together certainly haven’t been leaning on their shovels this past year.

Since December 2, 2013, when then transport minister Gerry Brownlee got behind the controls of a digger to move the first sod, the equivalent of 18 million sacks of peat and 3m bathtubs of sand have been hauled away.

On Thursday, new Transport Minister Simon Bridges donned his hi-vis to see how things have progressed after a year of construction on the expressway’s first stage – a $630m four-lane link between McKays Crossing and Peka Peka.

What he found was a very different landscape to the one his predecessor began tearing up.

More than one million cubic metres of earth have been removed and replaced, in some places, by 11,500 cubic metres of concrete and 650 tonnes of reinforced steel.

Large dirt tracks, which will eventually become road, have been carved into the earth. Steel piles, which will one day support the project’s 18 bridges, have begun appearing in rivers.

Massive earthworks and large machinery can be seen at construction sites in Raumati South, Paraparaumu, around the Waikanae River and at Peka Peka, and motorists have become used to manoeuvring around hundreds of orange traffic cones.

Rod James, the New Zealand Transport Agency’s Wellington highways manager, says construction of the Waikanae Bridge, the largest bridge along the project’s 18km length, is well under way, as is the dedicated off-road pathway for walking and cycling.

A “phenomenal” amount of earth has been moved during the first 365 days. “But it’s much more than digging and bulldozing. This is one of the most technologically and environmentally advanced projects ever built in this country.

“It may be three years before we cut the ribbon, but the benefits to the region are already accumulating. We have nearly 500 people employed on the project, rising to 600 next year, and this doesn’t count the jobs that have been created with our suppliers and through local businesses.”

Kapiti Coast Mayor Ross Church says those working on the expressway have been caring and respectful, always listening to the concerns of residents and responding appropriately: “Many of those working on the road and their families have moved to the area. These people have a vested interest in ensuring this new road works well for everyone in Kapiti and those travelling here.”

James points out that the expressway is one of the largest environmental projects undertaken in this country. “We are creating new wetlands, growing a vegetation corridor of over a million indigenous plants, and improving ecological connections throughout the Kapiti district.”

Bridges said on Thursday: “I am looking forward to returning and seeing people on cycleways, the wetlands and plantings. I think it will be a strong piece of beautification for this region.”

Once completed, this section of the expressway will provide the first of major improvements to State Highway 1 north of Wellington as part of the Wellington Northern Corridor road of national significance.

The Peka Peka to Otaki section of the expressway, the Transmission Gully motorway, and the Otaki to Levin SH1 upgrade are other components that will eventually link to form a 110km, four-lane expressway between Wellington Airport and Levin.

– The Dominion Post http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/63896102/Kapiti-expressway-takes-shape