NZTA Northland Corridor Project update - October 2025

Tēnā koe and welcome to the Northland Corridor newsletter.

We are pleased to share the announcement from the Minister of Transport Chris Bishop confirming the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) Board endorsement of the Northland Corridor Investment Case for the 2 Roads of National Significance (RoNS) between Te Hana and Whangārei, Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway (including the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills) and Port Marsden Highway and Whangārei.

The investment case recommends moving to route protection in a staged approach for the full corridor between Te Hana and Whangārei and endorses the preferred route.

To address the critical resilience issues in the Brynderwyn Hills, the NZTA board has endorsed taking a staged approach to the corridor, focusing on the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills, which will provide the long-term solution and enhance the overall efficiency of the corridor.

This milestone represents significant progress towards to the long-term corridor delivering a safe, resilient and efficient state highway connection between Auckland and Whangārei that will deliver nationally significant benefits. The corridor will be delivered in stages over a number of years, enabling programme costs to be managed over time.

Now that we have confirmed the preferred route, we can have individual conversations with affected landowners and undertake the necessary geotechnical and environmental investigations to help us refine the route into the proposed designation, which is what we’ll use to lodge consents and designations to route protect the corridor. Route protection ensures that the necessary land will be secured for future construction. The Fast-track Approvals Act (FTAA) will play a key role in advancing the project’s next phase.

All landowners within the preferred route will receive a letter from us which outlines the next steps. Due to the length of the preferred route from Te Hana to Whangārei, we will be engaging in individual meetings with landowners in stages, beginning with the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills section.

Below, we share the preferred route map, more information for landowners, an updated timeline and answer some frequently asked questions.

We will continue to work closely with our iwi and hapū partners and key stakeholders, and to share our progress with landowners and communities as we work at pace on the Northland Corridor project.

Read the Minister’s press release here.

Click here to view a larger version of the preferred route map.

Benefits of the Northland Corridor

The Northland Corridor will:

• provide a better connection to Northland through more reliable and shorter travel times with up to 38 minutes savings between Te Hana and Whangārei.
• boost economic growth in the Northland region with 1000+ extra households within 30-min of urban Whangārei.
• provide a more resilient and reliable state highway connection with less closures.
• improve safety and reduce deaths and serious injuries by 66%.
• have a benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 1.4.

There is more information on the Investment Case summary here.

Information for Landowners

I’m a landowner in the emerging preferred corridor, what happens next?

If you received a letter from us advising that your property was in the study area for the emerging preferred corridor, you will receive a letter in the post from us to advise you of the next steps.

You will hear from us if you were within the study area for the emerging preferred corridor, even if your property is not within the preferred route.

There is more information for landowners here.

Timeline

The timeline below shows next steps for Te Hana to Port Marsden Highway (including the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills) and Port Marsden Highway to Whangārei over the coming months.

Click here to view a larger version of the project timeline.

FAQS

What does the ‘preferred route’ mean?

The preferred route is a refinement of the emerging preferred corridor. NZTA will use this route to apply for consents and designation. There are still several places the final road may go within the preferred route.

What are the next steps?

Now that the preferred route has been endorsed by the NZTA board, we will undertake geotechnical and environmental investigations in the preferred route to better understand local conditions.

We will also contact landowners in the preferred route and arrange individual meetings with impacted landowners in stages, beginning with the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills section.

We will continue to refine the preferred route further and we expect to lodge consents and designations for the Alternative to the Brynderwyn Hills in mid-2026, with this section of the project expected to be procurement ready by mid-2027.

We expect to lodge designation for the rest of the corridor between Te Hana and Whangārei by mid-late 2026.

What does ‘route protection’ mean?

Route protection describes the identification and protection of land for future public work. Route protection is intended to protect the land from any development that could potentially make construction of the project more difficult in the future. Lodging a Notice of Requirement (NoR) is a key step in undertaking route protection.

Protecting the route gives planning certainty for people, businesses and communities. It supports future planning and ensures the land is available when the project is ready to be built.

Site investigations

Within the preferred route, we will work to refine our designs further so we understand more about where the final road should go. We plan to do a range of ground and environmental investigations within the preferred route in the coming months. If you are a landowner within the preferred corridor, we may contact you to request permission to come on to your land to carry out our investigations.

Ara Tūhono - Warkworth to Te Hana

Work on the first section of the Northland Corridor, Ara Tūhono - Warkworth to Te Hana, is progressing at pace. The project is in procurement with the contract expected to be awarded in July 2026. Detailed design and early construction work is expected to start in late 2026.

More information

For more information on the Northland Corridor project, contact us at [email protected]