Start date at last for Rimutaka upgrade

DIRECT ROUTE: The $16.5m project will ease some of the road's tightest corners.

A long fight for a safety upgrade on the Rimutaka Hill Road has paid off, with a multimillion-dollar improvement programme signed off and work set to begin.

The $16.5 million financial injection provided by the Government's Jobs and Growth plan has allowed preliminary work on the hill to start 30 months ahead of schedule.

Earthworks will begin at the end of the month, with the project to realign the notorious Muldoon's Corner on the Wellington side of the summit set to take three years.

The breakthrough comes just five years after Wellington region mayors took a protest to Parliament when the hill road upgrade was bumped off a list of funding priorities.

When construction was in full swing, up to 80 people would be employed, Transport Minister Steven Joyce said. "The work will come as a relief to those who travel the dangerous Rimutaka Hill Road.

"The project will improve safety on a very difficult section of road, where at present heavy vehicles travelling in opposite directions are unable to pass each other."

The upgrade will ease several tight curves, including Muldoon's Corner, about 500 metres south of the summit.

The route was the only practical road link to the Wairarapa from Wellington and was vital for tourism and freight, Mr Joyce said.

News of the project's promotion up the list of priorities has been welcomed by Wairarapa leaders, who have fought for more than a decade for improvements.

South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples said the work on Muldoon's Corner was the first step toward a 55kmh average speed for motorists travelling the route.

"That stretch of the road has always been of most concern because of how narrow it is ... it is going to make a big difference, but we want to keep the momentum going.

"We are going to keep pushing for continued upgrades and it might be just a whole bunch of small works but it ends up adding to that safety improvement issue."

Though there is no official documentation as to how the name of the notorious corner came about, it was believed to have been given the name in the 1970s when Sir Robert Muldoon was in power, a Land Transport Agency spokeswoman said.

"It is said that, back in the 70s, when Sir Robert was prime minister, the sharpest and tightest corner on the hill road was given that name after one of his famous Budgets was so tight."

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Tont   #5   10:38 pm Aug 10 2009

For an article titled "Start date at last for Rimutaka upgrade", the one thing strangely missing is the start date!

Dave   #4   09:26 pm Aug 10 2009

1. Do it properly - build a tunnel 2. Won't disrupt road users in the process 3. With proper machinery - it would take less time than hill realignment 4. Better for motorcyclists

Homer Jay   #3   10:55 am Aug 08 2009

I live in Martinborough and I am continually astonished by the level of insanity demonstrated whenever I drive this road. Some drivers must prefer the risk of death to an extra 5 minutes driving.

Also, the lack of adequate safety barriers should result in the Highways people being sued for criminal negligence - it certainly would not be allowed in most other modern countries.

I welcome this work as a start - but I do hope that it is not done in the usual 'Kiwi Way" like the Petone/Dowse work on SH2. That should have taken no more than 12 months from start to finish, yet seems to show no sign of finishing any time soon.

As an ex-UK highways engineer, I am unable to understand just why it takes at least 3 times as long to complete any roadworks project in NZ as it should.

The French built Millau Viaduct (the highest road bridge in the world, only 34 metres lower than the Empire State Building!) in 3 years from start to finish - and yet it will take us Kiwis that long just to re-align a little bit of minor road? Astonishing.

catherine   #2   02:54 am Aug 08 2009

This is good news! I will be able to visit my grandchildren in Martinborough without getting car sick. yahoo

Yoshi   #1   02:36 pm Aug 07 2009

I would like to thank New Zealand Government for this great job. I used to live in Wairarapa and have drove this dangerous road about five times. I always paid attention for driving on this hill. I felt comfortable on travelling by train, but I sometimes had to drive because I didn't have enough time to travel by train. I wish you will not have any car accident on the Rimutaka Hill in the future and congratulate on the safer road for all drivers on the hill. I look forward to driving on the hill when I go back to New Zealand.

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