This week, the Nelson and Tasman Councils and the business community are being briefed about progress on the Hope Bypass, the proposed two-stage upgrade of State Highway 6 from Hope through Richmond and into Stoke.
This project is a necessity for the region. Our highway capacity has not kept up with the huge growth in population, traffic volumes, visitors and exports. The number of people in the combined region has increased 50% from 70,000 to 110,000 and the number of vehicles has doubled from 50,000 to over 100,000 since 1990.
There was significant investment each decade in our highways with QEII Drive in the 1980s, the Richmond Deviation in the 1990s, the Stoke Bypass in the 2000s and the Ruby Bay Bypass in 2010s but progress has stalled over the past decade. This is despite Tasman growing faster than any other region, according to the latest 2023 Census.
Councils’ Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee has identified the Hope Bypass as the region’s top priority. The fastest population growth and development has been around Richmond. Traffic around the Lower Queen Street intersection and along the Richmond Deviation into the city can come to a standstill any time of any day. This congestion comes at a high cost to the economy and environment and continues to get worse.
The current Government deemed the Hope Bypass project one of its 17 Roads of National Significance (RoNS). This is the first time our region has secured such national recognition and every previous RoNS has been successfully delivered.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi announced last month it had awarded the contract for detailed design of the Hope Bypass to Stantec and WSP. This work is now underway with a drilling rig assessing ground conditions, drones performing aerial surveys, acoustic devices measuring noise and ecological monitoring equipment. This investigation work will involve some noise and traffic disruption. Detailed design is due for completion in 2027 enabling consents to be sought and costs to be finalised.
I welcome this progress and will be doing all I can to keep this critical project for the region on track.
