For your weekend read: https://duncandoestaupo.com/…/fridays-much-ado-about…/

This information will be of interest by all our guests as TRM is located on SH1 at Turangi.

Thank you to Duncan Campbell, our Taupo councillor, for publishing it on his weekly report “Duncan Does Taupo”.

(We apologise as my “copy & paste” did not copy everything exactly, the photos missed out but the overall information did not suffer. The detailed costs are already 10 years old and will almost certainly increase substantially, as usual, with such projects.)

Fridays Much Ado About Nothings

By paddlepool on September 25, 2026

Apart from that, what did we have on at Council this week? Nothing! For the first time in quite a while Elected Members had a whole week off, no meetings or workshops or anything at all! I took it as a very welcome break after some of the recent few months tumultuations, and yesterday even managed a bluebird day in the snow. Because this role can suck it out of you at times, and its not for the fainthearted if you want to stay true. Next week is looking a little busier though, and I will rattle off a few of the more important things below:

Northern Access Workshop: Next Tuesday we have the first of our Long Term Plan (LTP) Capital Programme Workshops starting at 10am, where the Northern Access project is scheduled to be discussed (that’s the $80M project for the new Waikato river bridge). It was originally supposed to happen this week, but for undisclosed reasons was deferred. Yes I do have a grievance because just like the Joint Management Agreement and countless other things that happened last term, this Council’s behind-closed-doors modus operandi makes things more complicated than they need to be. Anyway I expect to be finally able to properly table my idea for a three-lane bridge and Waikato Street connectionwhich has been playing on my mind since 2022. Because $80M is a lot of money and its the biggest LTP capital item by far, and guess who’s paying for it: You. By the way anybody in the transport profession like me who have practiced in cities are basically socialists by profession – who do you think decides that for the betterment of everybody, people need to get on buses?

Publicity but only for those more equal than others: Next Tuesday at the monthly Council meeting (read the agenda HERE) I am tabling a Notice of Motion item 5.10 that Council funded media include some coverage for Elected Members. For example you may recall the Councillor Korero inserts which used to be in the Taupo & Turangi Times? They took a required pause during the local government elections of 2025 but still haven’t been reinstated, just why that is the case is still not clear. Not every constituent is digitally inclined or even tunes in to Duncandoestaupo.com, so I think it is important that you get to hear how Elected Members are thinking whether they feel like talking or not. There is also the question of political messaging: I figure that because Councils are political organisations and “politician” happens to be our job description then you are entitled to hear our views, but that is contrary to the previous Taupo District Council guidelines which said “no political messaging”. I want those guidelines changed because if its okay for Mayor John Funnell to espouse on Council media his own political messages, then it should be okay for the rest of us too.

Here’s the solution but where’s the problem? Item 5.4 at the Council meeting is to do with powers of attorney, and like anything legal its convoluted but here my antennae are up. I don’t take anything to do with this Council for granted anymore, and I note my favourite Deputy Mayor gets special mention in this piece. People say in this business we should be free of personal angst, but in a place where accountability is in short supply – what really else is there? Anyway it is what it is, and I have my suspicions. Anybody who is a lawyer out there is welcome to contact and allay my concerns.

Apart from that, what else do we have?

What about that bypass? I forgot to mention one thing from my meeting at last weeks Waikato Regional Council (WRC) Transport Committee meeting in Hamilton – the Taupo to Turangi Bypass running between Hatepe and Motuoapa. This was a project scoped out back in 2017 at quite some expense as you can see with this SH1 Taupo to Waiouru Indicative Business Case (IBC).(Repeated below)

However the NZTA web page on the close to $1B project more or less sums it up: “has not progressed due to changes in priorities and funding”. But what a great thing when it does get to happen (will be a toll road most likely), estimated to save 14 min drive time and then we get a lakeside road for meandering tourist traffic only (a downside is that Taupo District Council gets to own and maintain it)

Not what they said it would be: Well, the Local Government Improvement Bill just got past its third reading, but the Taxpayers’ Union (TU) isn’t too happy because they claim it only strengthens a Council Chief Executive’s hand to hold on to information that Elected Members seek. Last week I shared a submission of mine to this bill, but I clearly misunderstood because its far too late for that – and if they won’t listen to TU then they wouldn’t have listened to me anyway.

Just good business? Watch HERE for Duncan Garner talking about the trebling of Taupo District Councils rental arrangement with Tuwharetoa which most of us have already heard about, but he is also quite incensed about a culture of information clasping which I can absolutely attest to. Information is generally only released on a “need to know” basis, and this has been one of my major frustrations the past four years. Is it perhaps just a coincidence that our Deputy Mayor is an ex-senior policeman, and that happens to also be the attitude of NZ Police?

Anyway it has stimulated myself to ask some questions, because as far as I was aware the building lease was already a done deal by the time I arrived as an Elected Member in 2022 (and it wasn’t on my radar list of priorities anyway). But I now have suspicions that it actually wasn’t a done deal: What if it was an option to not go through with, but never tabled? It has certainly happened before alright, but back in 2022 I was too green to have a clue.

Because we say so: Far North Councillor Davina Smolders recently put out an interesting post about confidentiality which you can read HERE. As an Elected Member the first thing I always challenge is the need for confidentiality in the first place, because that decision itself can be subjective. The Council staff response can be legitimate, but too often is effectively just: “because we say so”. In addition, some documents are held electronically not shareable including those not deemed “classified”, so feeding it through AI for advice is that much harder – I had a lot of problem with that last term, so far this term things are somewhat better.

RELEASED UNDER THE

OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT

NZ Transport Agency

SH1 Taupō – Waiouru

Programme Business Case

February 2017

Executive Summary

Introduction

The purpose of this programme business case is to identify an optimal mix of alternatives and options for investing in the State Highway 1 (SH1) transport corridor between Taupō and Waiouru over the next 30 years.

This programme business case has been developed concurrently with the State Highway 1 Piarere – Taupō programme business case, recognising that end-to-end journeys between Wellington and the upper North Island (see Figure 1) travel along both parts of this route and that issues and opportunities facing one part can have impacts on the other.

The programme business case focusses on a transport corridor defined as being between Taupō and Waiouru. The programme business case also considers parallel transport routes (i.e.SH32 and 41) and modes such as rail. The section of SH1 for this corridor is a 107 km stretch of highway commencing at Taupō at the intersection of SH1 and SH5 (Napier-Taupō Road) and traversing along the south eastern shoreline of Lake Taupō, through Turangi before reaching the boundary of the Tongariro National Park (also the boundary between Waikato and Manawatu-Wanganui district councils). From this point, SH1 traverses through Tongariro National Park.

Despite the volumes of traffic being significantly less than further north, SH1 from Taupō to Waiouru, is classified as a national route. Its current form is generally undivided two lanes with some passing opportunities, bendy and windy where it runs alongside Lake Taupō foreshore but then straightens out through the Rangipo Desert. The highway between Rangipo and the Desert Road summit alongside Tongariro National Park is very windy through the Three Sisters and then has a large number of curved and undulating sections in what is known as the Desert Road curves. It passes through a number of small settlements alongside the lake including a campground that straddles SH1.

The town of Turangi is located just south of the Lake where the SH1 runs through the eastern side of the town.

Further south, SH1 rises gradually to become the highest state highway in New Zealand at around 1000 metres above sea level.

Current situation

This section of SH1 has been underinvested in over a number of decades for upgrades and

improvement and, as a result, is limited in its form and its ability to perform its function as well as being one of the most expensive sections of the highway network to operate and maintain. These additional costs, in some areas five times greater per kilometre than the average highway maintenance costs, relate to the poor condition of the underlying asset as well as difficulty to maintain some remote and constrained sections such as the Desert Road Curves and the Three Sisters.

The main issues (described in the Problem Statements below) for this section of SH1 are road user safety, consistent travel time speeds (particularly for freight), travel time reliability and network resilience. A more specific issue for this section of SH1 is that there are conflicts at various points along SH1 between the corridors role as the main north-south transport link in the North Island, local network users and the interaction with high levels of tourism and recreation activity. These conflicts occur primarily along Lake Taupō, through the towns and at various points on the route where people slow or stop at recreational areas (i.e. Bulli Point) or areas of interest (viewing and photo taking opportunities) such as along the Desert Road.

This section of highway carries between 3,000 and 5,700 vehicles per day, of which 15-25% are heavy vehicles. There has been a recent increase in traffic volumes the last two years, which may reflect increasing economic activity and tourism in the region. These growth patterns will need to be monitored as they will influence the potential investment timeframes and triggers.Vehicles have a higher number of occupants per vehicle than average, reflected in the crash statistics.

The route has extremes in its alignment from 100kph straights on the Desert Road to 25kph curves on the Lake Taupō foreshore. Narrow road width due to geological features results in variable journey speeds with freight averaging just 62kph between Rangipo and the Desert Road summit.

Problem statements and key considerations

Four problem statements were developed and agreed with stakeholders that reflect the key areas toaddress through future investment. These problem statements are:

Problem 1: The unforgiving nature of the corridor contributes to a high number of crashes including deaths and serious injuries

Problem 2: There are specific sections (Three Sisters and along Lake Taupō) of the existing SH1 alignment that are environmentally / physically constrained resulting in unreliable and inefficient movement of goods and people

Problem 3: Weather, other natural events and crashes result in closures and delays

different road users and impacting the amenity of the region

and is a national route in the One Network Road Classification.

Problem 4: The route traverses a major tourism area and areas of significant recreational activity, coupled with competing functions (national, inter-regional and local) of the road corridor creating risk.

The following were key areas of consideration in the development of the programme options:

 SH1 is the key north-south spine for moving people and goods the length of the North Island and connecting to the South Island. It is the primary road-based transport route in the North Island.

 The route is susceptible to closures due to extreme weather, volcanic event risks from Mount

Ruapehu and the geology of the route, particularly around Lake Taupō foreshore and near the

 There are areas of cultural (iwi), tourist and recreational significance along the route.

Part of the route passes through a World Heritage Area and the Tongariro National Park

Motutere, Tauranga Taupō, and Turangi Lake Taupō and Tongariro National Park.

 The corridor is a primary tourist route linking attractions such as Mount Ruapehu, Lake Taupō.

 The corridor is home to a local population, in townships such as Taupō, Waitahanui, Hatepe,



Conflict between the transport role of the corridor and adjacent land uses and industries including tourism, agriculture, forestry and fishing, retail and construction is widely acknowledged.

 Risks along the corridor are increasing with continual wear and tear in a harsh environment.

The recommended programme is estimated to cost $750-950M and will provide a median divided, high 3/4 Star KiwiRap highway, possibly offline along sections of the corridor, with improved journey facilities, improved maintenance and operations regimes. Delivery is proposed in a staged manner over 30 years as funding permits. On this section of SH1 there are no triggers related to traffic growth that indicate timing of intervention but upon completion, the investment will:

 Reduce deaths and serious injuries by 35-45% (10-15 DSIs saved) over 5 year periods

 Improve the KiwiRap Star Rating to 92% above 3 star and 40-50% at 4 star

 Achieve more consistent travel speeds along Lake Taupō Foreshore and Desert Road/Three

Sisters with average speeds increased from current 72kph to 86kph

 Reduce the impact of closures on customers with 16 less road closures and 158 less hours of

road closure over a 5 year period

An additional and secondary benefit is a shorter journey time (14 minutes saving for freight in 2046 when compared with do nothing scenario).

The programme that delivers these outcomes consists of online safety and resilience investment plus a new alignment between Hatepe Hill to Motuoapa (or similar) and, realignments and/or viaduct(s) between Rangipo and Desert Road. The recommended programme incorporates a mix of both infrastructure and non-infrastructure improvements and in outlined below in Figure 3. Components of the programme will be bundled into a single project where they are geographically located or where it would result in greater efficiency in programme delivery.The investment in the programme is required immediately to address the problem statements with the early years developing the detail of the new alignment and realignment components which will transform the route and provide consistency with the One Network Road Classification (ONRC).

Figure 3: Recommended Programme

Online safety improvements locations and minor intersection improvements

Year 1: speed limit assessments, isolated hazard protection, and improved delineation at high risk

Year 2: Barrier system upgrades, carriageway camber improvements and surfacing enhancements,

consideration of median treatments between Desert Road summit and Waiouru, shoulder widening,

Year 5: consideration of median treatments between Turangi and Rangipo.

Replacement of the Tauranga Taupō Bridge on the existing location or on a new alignment with investigation, design and construction being completed between year 1 and year 4.

Resilience and reliability interventions may include:

Year 1: Activated warning signs, detour route signage upgrade, rock-fall netting and slip protection

Year 2: Resilience flood prevention between Motuoapa and Turangi including safer corridor

treatments, extensions of existing passing lanes and slow vehicle bays, Advanced warning Variable Messaging Signs (VMS) within and around the corridor, permanent detour guidance and traveller information systems.

Year 3: Passing lanes departing townships, to support safe passing opportunities, and corridor safety improvements between Turangi and Rangipo, Elimination of cell and radio dead-zones, Rapid response emergency landing sites and the provision of improved walking and cycling facilities that encourage active transport mode choice and tourism

Other investments that could occur in the short term include maintenance and operations activities:

 Crash and event recovery equipment located on the corridor (e.g. snow clearing equipment)

 Increased levels of contractor responsiveness to events (contractual changes)

Major realignment improvements

Major realignment improvements focus on the realignment and improvement of two sections of the SH1 corridor. These realignments would be approximately located between Hatepe Hill and south of undertaken as part of the detailed business case.

Further feasibility work to deliver these realignments including consultation with iwi, Department of Conservation and landholder engagement is required. Following this there would be geotechnical and geometric work undertaken to assess the impacts of potential re-alignments.

The project has been assessed as high strategic fit, high effectiveness and low benefit cost appraisal.

Indicative programme cost and cash flow

The total indicative programme cost is assessed at the programme business case stage to be $794M

(Most of the costings have been deleted as they would not be applicable in 2027 anyway.)

Travel Time Savings and Vehicle Operating Costs (approximate and likely underestimated) from the

detour Taupō to Turangi are $318,506 per day (compared with the Manawatu Gorge closure which

was reported at $62,000 per day). These costs are less than what the complete cost to the economy

would be and did not factor in a wide range of costs including repair costs for SH1 or cost of new

alignment, other economic impacts, increased costs to the network from redirected traffic flows.

Next steps

The following are the key areas for further investigation and activities to deliver the programme:

Tauranga Taupō bridge replacement indicative business case

This project consists of improvements on the connecting sections of SH1.

Safety only improvements:

There would be sections that only require safety improvements and do not have resilience issues or

specific needs (i.e. Desert Road – snow). This could be delivered by the Safe Roads Alliance.

Online– multi-faceted (safety, resilience and reliability) improvements:

This is a series of improvements along the corridor that could be undertaken in the short to medium works.geometric impacts of potential re-alignments.

These could be delivered through minor improvements and / or maintenance and minor capital.

Realignments (Northern section) from Hatepe Hill to Motuoapa indicative business case:

This requires initial work to be undertaken specifically iwi and landholder engagement to confirm

feasibility of realignments to the east of Lake Taupō and also, to assess the geotechnical and

Realignments (Southern section) Three Sisters to Desert Road summit indicative business

This also requires initial work including iwi and Department of Conservation engagement to confirm

feasibility of realignments through the Three Sisters and to the Desert Road Summit and also to

assess the geotechnical and geometric impacts of potential re-alignments. This may require viaducts

or bridges due to environmental constraints (including a World Heritage Area) and animal migration

that would be impacted from ‘cut and fill’ options. The realignment could be constructed in progressive