Changes are coming to Wairere Drive from Thursday as part of resource consent requirements to enable the build of a new PAK’nSAVE in Te Rapa on Karewa Place, including an intersection upgrade and a speed limit reduction.
When looking at the various transport impacts a new supermarket would create, an independent commissioner found that traffic signals were necessary at the intersection of Wairere Drive and Karewa Place. They also required a roundabout to be constructed at the intersection of Eagle Way and Karewa Place.
To make sure the new signalised intersection is safe for drivers, the speed limit on Wairere Drive between Pukete Road and Arthur Porter Drive will be lowered from 80km/h to 60km/h from Thursday 30 April 2026.
Hamilton City Council Councillors approved the speed limit reduction change at its meeting on 30 April 2025, following consultation with the community, where 64% of respondents supported the speed reduction.
Foodstuffs North Island are installing the traffic lights to allow a right turn into (but not out of) Karewa Place from Wairere Drive. During construction, Wairere Drive will have traffic restrictions in place. We will update the community via the Antenno app, and you canstay up to date with road impacts on our roadworks page.
This work is scheduled to start on 11 May 2026 and will take about 12 weeks to complete. The roundabout work will follow at a later date, and all construction is funded by Foodstuffs.