The 18km Expressway is scheduled to open in mid-2017. However if the project can continue with its current momentum and planned schedule, it could open early. The team are certainly working hard to achieve this outcome.
This project will connect with Transmission Gully (under construction with scheduled for completion in 2020) and the Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway (construction contract to be awarded in later 2016) and will deliver additional improvements in safety and travel times.
To construct a solid foundation for the M2PP Expressway, the construction team has had to excavate much more peat than expected. Despite this, most of the Expressway embankments are in place, and staff are constructing as much pavement as possible before winter. Pavement progress will ultimately determine how early the Expressway can open.
A 400 tonne crawler crane – one of the largest in New Zealand – is being brought in to lift beams onto the Te Moana Road Interchange and the Waikanae River Bridge, and will be on site from late March through to June. Twenty trucks are required to transport crane components to the site, and once in operation the crane will able lift 150 tonne precast crosshead beams and Super-Tee bridge beams, each weighing up to 95 tonnes.
By June, beams will have been placed on most of the 18 bridges. All bridges along the alignment have been designed to withstand 100 year floods and 1-in-2500-year earthquakes along the alignment.
Completion of the Expressway will not only improve safety and journey reliability but will also enhance the local environment. For every hectare of wetland taken for construction, the project is creating 5 hectares of wetland habitat to replace it. In addition, 1.4 million new plantings – mainly native species grown from local seed – will increase the number and diversity of native species on the coast.
Stormwater across the project is being collected and treated in deep roadside swales and wetlands planted with native oioi. This plant naturally removes contaminants before water is released to local waterways.
A new shared pathway will run 16km alongside the Expressway, connecting with other paths and local roads in Waikanae and Paraparaumu. It will also connect via Poplar Ave with the shared cycleway/walkway through Queen Elizabeth Park to Paekakariki.
Two pedestrian bridges are being built over the Expressway at Makarini Street and Leinster Avenue to make sure connections within the community are maintained.
This project is one of seven that make up the Wellington Northern Corridor – Road of National Significance (RoNS) providing significant benefits to the Wellington region and the nation.