Over the last 15+ years, Greater Auckland (and formerly as Transport Blog) have been scrutinising the Roads of National Significance, and specifically the ‘Holiday Highway’ between Puhoi and Wellsford.
We’ve long been proponents of better, cheaper, and quicker-to-deliver solutions (than the proposed Road of National Significance mega-project), importantly for the safety issues on the stretch of State Highway 1 between Puhoi and Wellsford, but also across the wider Northland Region.
The Throwback Thursday post below first appeared on our website in 2013. Read to the end for a roll-call of the many, many, posts we have made about this project (and the RoNS programme as a whole) over the past 15 years.
Proponents of the Puhoi-Wellsford “holiday highway” have regularly tried to portray the project as being of critical importance to the future prosperity of Northland. I have even heard that before the last election at a “Backbenchers” special TV show in Auckland, Nikki Kaye even went so far as suggesting that the road would be a critical way of solving child poverty in Auckland. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a motorway project.
We’ve always been sceptical about these claims for quite a few reasons:
- The project is not even in Northland, it’s in Auckland
- The project only saves a few minutes of time – despite what Gerry has claimed
- Spending the same amount of money on good transport or economic development initiatives within Northland would almost certainly have a bigger impact
- NZTA’s own analysis of the project from before it was plucked out of the air by the government suggests that the benefits will be minor:
In recent times the argument that the project will benefit Northland has become even more stretched – because it seems as though the Warkworth-Wellsford section is encountering huge problems with geotechnical stability. This is what was stated in a local paper recently in relation to this section:
Meanwhile, investigation of the Warkworth to Wellsford leg has been postponed indefinitely, due to tests that have shown land in the area is so unstable, it would be uneconomic to build a motorway on top of it. It is the poorest possible soil seen in New Zealand.
While the project’s northern half (the closest half to Northland and the section with the most significant existing safety problems) sounds like it’s being chopped forever, it appears as though other elements are being added to the project to enable holiday makers to get to their beach houses quicker. This from the same article as the earlier quote:
However, they have confirmed the motorway would almost certainly join up with a new link road to Matakana, via a large roundabout, which is highly likely to push development to the north of Warkworth, and towards the coast. It is understood Auckland Council planners are already redrawing the rural urban boundary proposed for Warkworth, to reflect the same changes.
It seems that perhaps Northlanders are waking up to the fact that the project which was supposed to have a transformational effect on their economy is slowly but surely evolving into what its critics have called it all along – little more than a “holiday highway”. Here’s a recent article from the Rodney Times:
The Far North District Council says the money could be put to better use on Northland’s roads.
In July the council accepted and agreed to promote a report by traffic engineer Dean Scanlen which calls the motorway “an expensive gift you don’t want”.
Mr Scanlen suggests the benefits of bypasses at Warkworth and Kawakawa, and a tunnel at the Brynderwyn Hills would far outweigh the benefits of a four-lane road between Puhoi and Wellsford as planned.
New political party Focus New Zealand also believes the money could be better spent on Northland roads.
President and Okaihau farmer Ken Rintoul says Northland has bigger transport problems such as the 12 single-lane state highway bridges and poor route security which cuts Northland off in extreme weather.
Mr Rintoul says the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway will create a dangerous bottleneck at Dome Valley which will not be bypassed for a further 10 years.
We have long said that the focus should be on bypassing the towns along the route and then spending money to improve safety by straightening out curves and adding improved passing facilities. All of which could be done sooner and each bit as individual projects. Further the benefits could be felt as soon as each small section is finished rather than having to wait for the completely offline motorway to be completed. I do think a tunnel under the Brynderwnyn’s sounds a bit fanciful and very costly though.
Some still support the project, but seemingly only on the basis that it’s extended much further north in the future:
But Northland Regional Transport Committee chairman John Bain says the road will make a huge difference, improving access to Northland’s main market.
More than 30 per cent of everything Northland produces travels south on the road to Auckland and beyond, he says.
“It used to take three hours to get to Auckland, now it takes two hours. The next step makes it even quicker and opens up the North for all the benefits.”
Mr Bain says it will make the trip easier not only for freight but tourists too.
Mr Bain says the motorway will eventually reach Wellsford, then Whangarei and further north. He wants the Whangarei District Council to consider designating a corridor for a future bypass of the Brynderwyn Hills. Designating the land now means the land corridor will not be too exorbitant to buy and gives everyone certainty.
Given the problems faced by the Warkworth-Wellsford section alone, it seems like it would be a very very long time before extending the motorway north of Wellsford is even considered. And sure I can see how going from three hours to two hours between Whangarei and Auckland could have had a major effect, but this proposed road really only cuts about 10 minutes off travel times at most. That’s hardly earth-shattering and with the exceptions of the Brynderwyn’s there isn’t much to really hold vehicles up for the rest of the route.
I wonder whether it’s only a matter of time until the Warkworth-Wellsford section is quietly dropped from being part of the road of national significance – much like Otaki to Levin was. That section appears to be the only of the RoNS not to have at least an indicative completion date as per the table below which I received as part of my OIA request from the Ministry of Transport. The paper it came from was dated Feb 2013.
Something of particular note is the issue with deaths and serious injuries over this time period before any mega-highway was build.
Construction on the first half of that Road of National Significance, Puhoi to Warkworth, would not start until 2016, and would be completed in 2023.
Normal-sized safety improvements in the Dome Valley only began construction in 2020. They were completed in 2023,
On just the Dome Valley part of this corridor, 45 people were seriously injured, and 9 people were killed between 2010 and 2023, before the safety improvements were finished.
As of 7th May 2026, the Warkworth to Wellsford Road of National Significance (now also known as Warkworth to Te Hana) has not begun construction.
It is now projected to cost $3.5-4 billion, which would make it the most expensive road ever built in New Zealand.
If it is built, it won’t be finished until at least the mid-2030’s.
The opportunity cost of these over-scoped projects is stark.
Here is 15 years of (just some of) our posts pointing out how this project is not justified (along with other RoNS), and how it would be far better to deliver many more normal-sized solutions instead.
2012
- NZTA Confirms Puhoi to Wellsford Route
- The 2008 Puhoi-Wellsford Study
- The Holiday Highway’s health and education benefits?
- Warkworth-Wellsford: in or out?
- Can these RoNS Make a Right?
- More Puhoi-Wellsford discussion in parliament
- P2W timesavings just don’t stack up
- What’s Best for Northland?
2013
- Thoughts on the “holiday highway”
- NZTA is pushing on with the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway
- “Holiday Highway” likely to have consent fast-tracked
- The realities of Puhoi to Wellsford
- Holiday Highway Benefits Disputed (by Northland)
- Puhoi to Wellsford EPA documents
- Overkill
2014
2015
2016
2017
- RoNS 2.0?
- Warkworth to Wellsford boondoggle route announced
- The mystery of the Wellsford-Whangarei business case
- Solved: The mystery of the Wellsford-Whangarei business case
- RoNS 2.0 – a lesson in diminishing returns
- More toll roads raise questions
2018
2019
2020
- Warkworth to Wellsford consent
- National’s $60 Billion+ Transport boondoggle
- Thinking about expressways
- Highway Cost Blowouts
2023
2024
- The Government’s Ideological Transport Policy
- Northern Expressway Boondoggle
- Simeon Brown’s fanaticism kills Warkworth intersection fix
- Paying for the RoNS like Rail
2025
- Government’s Road Announcement Week
- More Thoughts on MOAR RoNS
- The Government’s Northern Expressway Obsession
- Reality bites: RoNS will bankrupt the nation
2026
- $22,000,000,000 on just one road?
- Tolling will not touch the sides of Warkworth to Te Hana
- Is reality setting in, re the Northland RONS?
- The nation’s most expensive road (so far)?
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wow – thats a lot of journalism and pointing out the obvious to still be faced with multibillion dollar roading projects that save a few minutes, after years of delays.
Judging by the current trajectory, we’re on track to start spending bigly on this.
All i want is a footpath on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, ($5M for paint and a few barriers if you liberate a lane).
All NZTA/Wellington wants is roads. What does chippy want ?
The fact it’s still illegal to walk over the biggest bridge in our biggest city in [current year] says all that needs to be said about the state of car dependency in this country. Sad.
Yes, it would have been good to have a walkway over it but unfortunately the bridge hasn’t been designed for a walkway, structurally it cannot cope with people walking on it unless you use an original part of the bridge, but who wants to walk surrounded on all side with endless trucks buses and cars and noise. Maybe someone will come to their senses in high places and build a separate bridge for bikes and pedestrians and public transport only.
Pete, on “structurally it cannot cope with people walking on it”… Are you part of the team strategically putting out this misinformation, or are you just a willingly repeating it?
lol, what are you smoking?
It can definitely cope with pedestrians and cyclists. NZTA’s own investigations said as much. Their main objection was literally “cyclists might go too fast down hill and crash, so lets not allow it at all.”
There is also a risk of increased suicide. People regularly jump off that bridge and putting in a footpath just makes the risk worse unless you spent lots of money on an expensive fence.
In reality, NZTA just doesn’t care about people, only metal boxes and they are lying if they tell you otherwise. They could have converted a lane for cyclists and pedestrians in weeks during covid, but they just couldn’t be bothered.
Is that why they always build the additional bridge for the Auckland Marathon?
The harbour bridge is a terrible place to be. It is extremely noisy and vibrates in an alarming manner. You would walk it once and then only if you had absolutely no choice. Perhaps they should hand over a lane for day so people could figure it out for themselves.
Miffy, that sounds like most major arterials in Auckland.
I agree that in reality pedestrians will do it once and never again, but cyclists on e-bikes should be fine. I would expect it to be the busiest cycle link in Auckland. All the North Shore MAMIL’s will love it to cycle into the city.
Facts. 90% of streets and roads in this country are distressing to walk along, with loud trucks, cars and motorbikes, emergency vehicle sirens, etc. abusing your eardrums, in all honesty it might make me go deaf.
Luckily not a problem when you’re driving around in a sound insulated vehicle!
With property its location, location, location.
For infrastructure the NZ catch cry needs to be affordable, affordable, affordable.
The ex CRL boss made the same comment this morning about gold plating and lack of affordability of NZ infrastructure.
As I said a couple of days ago about “The nation’s most expensive road (so far)?” article:
“Governments have clearly shown they are not capable of making infrastructure decisions in the best interests of Kiwis.
Project ranking and scoping should be devolved to the Infrastructure Commission with Govt playing a governance role. e.g. has the IC maximised wellbeing per capita gains as a KPI by its choice of and ranking of projects.”
Central and local govt should also be required to spend on maintenance ahead of capital.
Sean Sweeney’s comments were nonsense. He said that they could have saved $2 billion on more ugly and functional station design. That’s utter nonsense – but he knows his audience. That’s something that foaming-at-the-mouth ACT party types want to hear, rather than discussions about the Beresford Square entrance, 9-car future proofing, Maungawhau grade separation etc
Patrick calls me names for this, but this kind of relentless push is why I say that the CRL is a “damaged brand”. Not that it won’t have the great effects we hope, but for the first year or so there will relentless media stories about its “disappointment” and “failure”.
Just like the opening of the Northern Busway which was supposed to be a big white elephant.
He’s probably right, but it isn’t just ugly and functional station design.
In any of these projects its very easy to add scope because it would be silly not to. “We are spending $3 billion, why not add an extra $3 million for …”. Before you know it its at $6 billion.
Probably the only way to prevent that is to focus on the core outcomes (getting people from A – B) and pretty much everything else is declined. If you do that and you can build two projects for the price of one, you’ve doubled the core benefit at the expense of all the bells and whistles.
Interesting article, being an occassional user of the highway I suppose that I share a portion of the responsibility, but man its depressing to drive through km after km of blasted hill-scape.
I understand that tunnels are expensive – and therefore not really feasible – but I wonder if we have the right regulatory settings in terms of safety standards. My understanding is that they were shaped by the Pike River tragedy – are these appropriate standards for a totally different type of tunnel?
No, the solution is far more fundamental than inviting in a level of danger.
The solution must reduce car dependence, radically.
Absolutely. It is beyond comprehension ( give or take understanding who the big funders/lobbyists are) that recent events alone, are not making decision makers ( present and future)recognise that projects like this are dragging us further down into financial, environmental and societal damage.
Look it’s great to point all this out and I agree with the evidence shown here it’s just that we need to be honest. Labours bloc cannot win an election by saying we are going to cancel this project, it just doesn’t make political sense. People want this project (although they don’t really understand just how much it really costs), and they never will. Therefore this road will be pushed you’ve shown your old “holiday highway” articles which I remember reading and labour having other ideas which got an absolute hammering in the polls and Hipkins later said labour was wrong to call it a holiday highway.
By far the biggest issue is no one has offered a realistic solution that meets needs safety, cost, travel time improvement and is popular. I’ve been reading the blog a long time and remember so many commenters arguing against the Waikato expressway… the road which has almost eliminated fatalities on that section of SH1 it’s easy to forget but on just the Hamilton to Huntly section ALONE of SH1 in only 5 years we Had 41 deaths that’s been reduced to pretty much Zero not to mention an enormous travel time improvement.
Northland deserves this road just as much as the Waikato it just seems worse value (well it is) but the major difference is terrain yes it’s the most expensive road but for Northland this is the best chance they have of getting a better road. The Waikato expressway has opened up so much of the Waikato and has had almost endless benefits.
I agree a simple bypass of the Brynderwyns would save a ton of cash on that section, but there has been literally zero commitments by ANY political party to doing this so the best chance Northland has is to support the mega highway.
I put this to anyone against this road, ignoring the cost and climate for a second since most people either don’t understand or don’t care about those issues. What reason would you have for telling people in Northland their main connection must stay a goat track with countless more lives lost and hours wasted just to keep us on the Greater Auckland blog happy that we got our way finally. I used to be against the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway until I recently decided to drive the old route and forgot how much slower it was in Typical AT fashion only 80kmh with 3 cops sitting in different sections waiting to pounce. Can you seriously believe the public is going to support anything but an expressway this is why this project is going to go ahead so you might as well accept that and putting energy into convincing the general public to use PT more because despite the highest ever fuel prices the vast majority still choose to drive.