Extension of New Plymouth's Coastal Walkway gets the Go-Ahead

The extension of New Plymouth’s award-winning Coastal Walkway has been given the go-ahead following substantial funding from Land Transport New Zealand.

About 4km of pathway, including a 70m shared cycle/pedestrian bridge over the Waiwhakaiho River, will be created to extend the Coastal Walkway from Waiwhakaiho through to Ellesmere Ave in Bell Block.

The estimated $3.1 million project will increase the walkway’s length from 7km to more than 11km. Land Transport New Zealand is contributing $1.88m, or 61 per cent of the project’s cost, with New Plymouth District Council meeting the rest.

Land Transport New Zealand regional partnerships manager Rosalie Orr says the pathway will provide cyclists between Bell Block and the city with a safer and more pleasant route along Rewa Rewa Reserve and the coast.

“This project is well integrated with the local road network and proposed land use, and it demonstrates the community’s commitment to supporting walking and cycling,” she says.

Says Mayor Peter Tennent: “New Plymouth is known as a vibrant coastal city and it’s fantastic that another part of our beautiful coastline is being opened up for everyone, especially as this is an area many of our residents will not have visited.

“The extension of this pathway is also a vital part of our Cycle Strategy as well as the long-term aim of extending the Coastal Walkway northward through to Waitara.

“The opportunities this project will give residents for leisure and transport options are huge and the council’s team has put a lot of work into the design, so it’s great to see it getting off the ground with the help of Land Transport NZ,” says Mayor Pete.

New Plymouth District Council Manager Projects Team Jeff Bondy says the project will include sealing the existing section of Coastal Walkway across the dunes between the Waiwhakaiho River mouth and Fitzroy Motor Camp to make this section fully accessible to all cyclists and pedestrians.

The shared cycle/pedestrian bridge features a single arch, evocative of a breaking wave, that spans the bridge diagonally and will frame Mt Taranaki at one end. Construction will take 18 months, with completion due in October 2009.

The contract has been let to a consortium led by local company Whitaker Civil Engineering Limited, and including Novare Design, Duffill Watts and Fitzroy Engineering.

Mr Bondy says a separate tender for construction of the pathway between Waiwhakaiho and Bell Block will follow in due course.

NPDC has an agreement with Ngati Tawhirikura hapu to jointly manage Rewa Rewa Reserve. “We’ve been working closely with the hapu on the Coastal Walkway extension to ensure the final design suits the spectacular landscape as well as the cultural and archaeological significance of the site,” he says.

“The project will open up an entire block of coastline to public access that has previously been inaccessible – and because it will be a desirable direct route between the city and Bell Block, we hope this extension will encourage more people to consider cycling and walking as a viable, safe, efficient and attractive transport option.”

An associated development, which is separate from the Coastal Walkway extension project, is the creation of an underpass beneath SH3 to connect Mangati Reserve to the Bell Block industrial area on Connett Rd.

This underpass will be constructed as part of the Bell Block bypass, and will enable a commuter link that is almost entirely off-road from Port Taranaki at the city’s western end right through to Connett Rd, beyond the city’s eastern boundary.

In 2004 Isthmus won first place in the International Federation of Landscape Architects’ Eastern Region excellence awards for the Coastal Walkway.

Route of the Coastal Walkway extension.
Design of the new shared pedestrian/cycle bridge.