Upgrade Our One-Way Bridges

The National Transport Spokesperson – Chris Bishop with Scott Simpson (Coromandel MP) today released their policy for the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel, particularly regarding our one-lane bridges.

The Policy has three key initiatives are.

1. Building the Tauranga to Katikati Expressway, including the Katikati bypass
2. Building the Pokeno to Mangatarata improvements project.
3. Upgrade three one lane bridges in the Coromandel.

The full policy is available for download here

In the release Chris Bishop has stated that “The Coromandel’s one-lane bridges, particularly on main roading corridors likeSH25 into Tairua, have long been a source of frustration. The bridges become heavily congested particularly at peak holiday period times. The local council is in the unfortunate position of having a low rating base (due to a small resident population) but with infrastructure that requires a higher standard due to the regular influx of tourists to the area, particularly during summer months.”

National have announced that it will commence work on the upgrade on the following bridges in it’s first term of government. The three bridges it has committed to upgrade are:

1. The Hikuai River (Bailey) Bridge
2. The Pepe Stream Bridge
3. The Grahams Stream Bridge north of Tairua Township.

The bridges are congested during peak times and have more recently seen stop go management in places with queues stretching for kilometres. Would you like to see these bridges upgraded sooner rather than later?