Transit New Zealand
Wellington Regional Office

MEDIA RELEASE
23 March 2007

Transit opens MacKays Crossing Overbridge to full capacity

Transit New Zealand opens MacKays Crossing Overbridge to its full capacity tomorrow (Saturday 24 March) with an official opening ceremony at Queen Elizabeth Park at 11am.

Transit New Zealand general manager capital projects Colin Crampton says the opening marks the conclusion of a successful project, which provides great benefits to motorists travelling along this stretch of State Highway 1 north of Wellington.

“The project improves safety and reduces congestion. Motorists no longer need to stop for trains or negotiate the tricky S-bend at the level crossing, reducing travelling time through the area, ” Mr Crampton says.

The official opening ceremony will be followed by a family fun day at Queen Elizabeth Park until 4pm, organised by the Rotary Club of Kapiti to fundraise for local emergency services including Life Flight Trust and Kapiti EMS.

“This will be a day to celebrate the opening of a road, the end of a project, honour the past and welcome the future,” says Mr Crampton.

Minister of Transport Hon Annette King will cut a ribbon to declare the project open, and the United States Ambassador, His Excellency William McCormick, will attend in recognition of the area’s history as a US Marine camp during World War II.

Mr Crampton says in addition to the 115m-wide, four lane ovebridge, the project also realigned the road at ‘Sang Sue’ corner, 1 kilometre south of the overbridge, and constructing new accesses to Queen Elizabeth Park and Whareroa Farm. The project has been designed to allow for a future connection to the proposed Transmission Gully Motorway or double tracking of the railway line.

Construction of the 2.9km project started in 2004. Contractors Fulton Hogan, working under Transit’s first design and construct contract (where the contractor is also responsible for the detailed design) in the Wellington region, faced many challenges.

“These included a faultline through the middle of the project site and persistent, unseasonably wet weather last year,” says Mr Crampton.

Ends

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