Wairere Drive opens to Ruakura Road on Tuesday

Traffic flows in the east of the city will ease from next Tuesday (29 January) when a key transport link opens.

The opening of Wairere Drive through to Ruakura Road will see two new sets of traffic signals  turned on – at Bisley Rd intersection (formerly East St) and at Ruakura Road – and includes a  new rail overbridge over the east coast main trunk railway.

The opening of this final 600m of road marks the completion of the 3.5km section of Wairere Drive from Crosby Road through to Ruakura Road. The two year project which cost $35 million has been completed on time and on budget.

There will still be significant traffic management around Ruakura Rd, but Council and its contractors were keen to open the route as soon as possible given the major road works and traffic management at the Ruakura Rd/Peachgrove Rd/Te Aroha St intersection, as well as opening the link ahead of the start of the school year from next week.

The four lane arterial route also includes shared walking and cycle pathways alongside it.

The final surfacing of Wairere Drive from Crosby Road to Fifth Avenue roundabout also gets underway next week, and is expected to take two weeks, with work weather dependent. A special low noise surface will be put down which will minimise road surface noise for residents in the area.

City Development Acting Unit Manager Martin Mould says: “It’s great to see this section of Wairere Drive open and I know Hamilton residents will be very pleased also because it will make getting around a whole lot easier for them.

“This is a busy part of the city and the full opening of this stretch of Wairere Drive will greatly improve traffic flows through the eastern part of our city, which includes many schools and the university.”

Facts about the 3.5km Crosby Rd – Ruakura Rd section of Wairere Drive

• 3600m of brand new shared walking and cycling pathways
• 110,000 trees and shrubs planted
• 15km of new concrete kerbing
• 106,000 square metres of new road surfacing
• 4600m of new stormwater pipe work under the road
• 24km of continuous road marking
• 250,000 cubic metres of new fill material brought onto site