Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz

Last week I visited the work underway on the construction of the Tauranga Eastern Link.

he largest state highway project ever to be built in the Bay of Plenty, it is 23kms long and extends from Te Maunga to Paengaroa as a four lane highway with a central median barrier. There will be 17km of new road, a toll system, three intersections, seven bridges, interchanges and landscaping.

The business case promised reduced travel times, safer and easier travel, supported regional growth and contribution to our economy. The project is, however, bringing an immediate impact to our economy. There are new access and haul roads, trial embankments, ground improvements being undertaken, large drainage works and pre-loading along the route. This will continue until 2016 when the new portion of state highway opens.

There are about 200 people currently working on-site, which is to increase to a total of 350 people working on the project. The scale of the earthworks is huge; an estimated half a million cubic metres of soil has been moved on the site – and by the end of the project there will have been three million cubic meters of earthworks and about 550,000 square metres of new road.

This means lots of machinery and massive vehicles, all requiring fuel maintenance, parts and service. The material used for the project all has to be brought into the site; like the 1000km of wick drain which has been laid so far. The project is massive and it is adding money into our region already.

If you have any views on this or any other issue, please phone 07 579 5150, email neesj@xtra.co.nz or visit www.janenees.co.nz