Takitimu North Link Project

Presenters: Brian Robertson & Dan Parkes
SH2 is a busy highway with a poor safety record and the pressures of this have been felt in this community for some time. This section of state highway between Waihī and Tauranga has developed into a busy commuter and freight route as well as an important tourist link for the northern Bay of Plenty and Coromandel
Peninsula. It is also one of New Zealand’s highest risk rural roads. Takitimu North Link Stage One will connect Tauranga and Te Puna with a new four-lane expressway and shared path. Main construction is underway on the $655 million project, and we have just started our first full earthworks season.
The project will:
• Improve safety to reduce deaths and serious injuries.
• Improve access with more reliable travel times for local people, and regional freight to the Port of
Tauranga from Western Bay of Plenty and Coromandel
• Support greater travel choice through public transport prioritisation and shared path which will
improve mode shift options
• Support economic development and population growth in the Western Bay of Plenty in line with
the Urban Form and Transport Initiative
• Improve resilience to the road network