NZ Transport Agency Bay of Plenty Office

16 January 2013

TEL information centre summer weekend opening

The public will now have a chance to see the latest Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) construction footage, images and archival displays on the weekend, thanks to the NZTA opening the TEL Information Centre on three Saturdays during the summer months.

NZTA Bay of Plenty acting state highway manager Nigel D’Ath says the NZTA, with contractors the Fulton Hogan HEB Construction Alliance, are inviting the public to the first weekend opening of the TEL Information Centre - known as the TEL Summer Series this Saturday (19 January).

The weekend openings are being held following high public interest in the project and requests from those who work during the week to be able to visit the centre on the weekends.

Mr D’Ath says the TEL Summer Series is an opportunity for members of the public to visit the centre one Saturday a month to check out progress on the largest roading construction project in the Bay of Plenty.

“We are heading towards the half way point of the construction process and a significant amount of work has been undertaken since it started in 2010, this is a good opportunity for the public to come in and view the progress for themselves particularly as most of it is not visible from the existing state highway.”

The information centre, located at 65 Tara Road, Papamoa, will be open from 10.00am to 1.00pm Saturday 19 January, Saturday 16 February and Saturday 16 March.

"We hope people will take the opportunity to visit the TEL’s information centre when it opens one Saturday in January through to March. There is quite a bit to see, those that have already visited the centre are always surprised and amazed by how much progress has been made and are able to relate it to the construction activity they can see when driving through the area.”

Keep up-to-date with developments at www.nzta.govt.nz/tel.

ENDS

Editor’s notes

The four-lane Tauranga Eastern Link will run from Te Maunga (near Baypark Stadium) in Tauranga to the existing junction of State Highways 2 and 33 (the Rotorua and Whakatane highways) near Paengaroa. It will be made up of 17km of new road and an upgrade of six kilometres of existing highway. The new highway is expected to open to traffic in 2016.

The TEL is crucial to supporting growth in the Bay of Plenty – one of New Zealand’s fastest growing regions – and providing freight access from across the region to Tauranga.

The TEL is part of the NZTA’s roads of national significance programme (RoNS for short), which represents one of New Zealand’s biggest ever infrastructure investments. Once completed, the seven RoNS routes will reduce congestion in and around our five largest metropolitan areas, and will move people and freight between and within these centres more safely and efficiently.

Other RoNS are: Puhoi to Wellford, Auckland’s Western Ring Route, Auckland’s Victoria Park Tunnel (completed in 2012), Waikato Expressway, Wellington Northern Corridor, and Christchurch Motorways. More information is available at www.nzta.govt.nz/rons.

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