New photos of the highly anticipated "Ara Tūhono" motorway have been revealed. Photo / Supplied

A sight for tired drivers’ eyes: New images of Pūhoi to Warkworth ‘holiday highway’ revealed

Author: NZ Herald ,
Publish Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2023, 10:10am

New images have been released of the highly anticipated new motorway between Pūhoi and Warkworth as the expected opening date draws near.

The Herald understands the physical works could be completed in April/May and the highway fully open two to three months later.

The route has been labelled the “holiday highway”, because of the number of Aucklanders with bolt-hole baches in places like Omaha and Mangawhai.

A completed section of the new motorway. Photo / Supplied

The current cost of the project is $877.5 million, but in October it was reported Waka Kotahi had received a claim for an additional $280m, but has not seen any evidence to support a claim of this size.

When the highway does fully open, the 18.5km route will be an impressive sight, featuring natural forms, a kauri reserve at bridge level looking down on the Pūhoi River, and 50m-high cut slopes with layers of rock forms breaking out to valley views, all following a curved path to Warkworth.

The drive will chop 11 minutes off the current route, be a much safer and more reliable drive for the 24,000 vehicles that use the road every day and connect to Auckland Transport’s $62m Matakana link road that avoids Warkworth’s infamous Hill St intersection.

New photos of the highly anticipated "Ara Tūhono" motorway have been revealed. Photo / Supplied

Since June this year, a section of the highway has opened at the Johnstones Hill end across the impressive Arawhiti ki Ōkahu viaduct before drivers get off at Pūhoi and back on to SH1 with a 60km/h speed limit for safety reasons.

Waka Kotahi will only say the highway, named Ara Tūhono, or “connecting path”, will open sometime in 2023.

Spokesman Andrew Robertson said an update on the opening date would be announced once the works are completed, safety and quality tests are signed off by an independent reviewer, and contractual issues with the Northern Express Group (NX2) consortium involving the impact of Covid-19 are resolved.