Eastern Pathways (School Link) Te Ara o te Rawhiti

What we're doing

Eastern Pathways Te Ara o te Rawhiti will improve accessibility through and to eastern Hamilton, better connecting the city centre to our university and schools, as well as businesses, medical centres, and aged care facilities in this area.

In early 2022, we commenced small improvements to support our broader programme initiatives.

At the core of Eastern Pathways Te Ara o te Rawhiti is the School Link project. This is a series of road improvements on a key north-south transport route in Hamilton, extending from Hukanui Road in the north to Peachgrove Road in the south, between Wairere Drive and Clyde Street. This route connects 19 schools with over 9500 local students. Residential housing, shopping centres, churches, sports fields, and retirement villages along the route will also benefit from these improvements to safety, infrastructure, and accessibility.

School Link was approved by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for pre-implementation (design) funding in late 2021.

Why we're doing it

By 2028, more than 200,000 people will call Hamilton home – and we're currently growing by about 81 new residents each week. This growth puts more pressure on the local transport system, creating several challenges:

• an increase in the number of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads
• a declining number of people choosing to walk or ride a bike around the city
• a historical decline in the number of people using public transport in Hamilton
• a larger proportion of people are using their car for short trips around the city (60% of people driving less than 5km, and 33% of people driving less than 2km)
• an increase in congestion and unreliable journey times across the city
• a lack of city infrastructure to unlock new growth areas.

The success of Hamilton's transport system relies on creating a new approach for different types of transport. We need to provide residents, commuters, and visitors with a range of easier, safer, and more reliable choices for getting around, in addition to private cars. The walking, biking and public transport projects within the Eastern Pathways Te Ara o te Rawhiti programme will help to achieve this vision.

How is it funded?

The programme will be jointly funded by Hamilton City Council and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency. How the funding will be split will be known following the funding application to Waka Kotahi for School Link and Uni Link.

This funding forms part of the 2021-24 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) announced in September 2021, under which Waka Kotahi guaranteed funding of $163.5 million for transport projects in Hamilton. Under the NLTP, Waka Kotahi co-funds 51% of the cost of approved projects with Council funding the remaining 49%.