End in sight for construction of southern-most Te Araroa Trail leg

Thursday, 1 October 2020

South Roads foreman Mike Bell, pictured with New Zealand Heritage Properties principal archaeologist Amy McStay just outside Bluff, will on Friday start work on completing the final 17km leg of a walking and biking track between Invercargill and Bluff, which will double as the last leg of the length of New Zealand’s Te Araroa Trail.

Construction of the final 17km leg of a walking and cycling track from Invercargill to Bluff, which doubles as the final stretch of the New Zealand-long Te Araroa Trail, was supposed to start nine months ago - but in this case there’s a silver lining to the lateness.

Extra funding granted during the delay meant the track could now be sealed instead of being gravel, and new information gathered by archaeologists has revealed some rich history in the area which will now be told along the track.

Contractors, originally due to start work in January, would now start on Friday from the Bluff end.

They will build the track adjacent to State Highway 1 for 17km towards Invercargill , until it meets up with the end of the 9km section already completed from the Invercargill end.

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Mike Bell, foreman for the South Roads contracting team building the track, said he hoped it would be completed before Christmas.

The track would take walkers and cyclists off the dangerous state highway and ensure a safer journey for all.

Environment Southland lead transport planner Russell Hawkes, the man in charge of the track project, said work didn’t start in January because an archaeological assessment of the area took longer to get going than anticipated, not helped by Covid-19.

He had not been aware of the historical significance of the area until the findings of the archaeological assessment came through.

During the delay he had also received funding approval from the NZTA to seal the final 17km of track being constructed.

“If we had started in January we would have been finishing it as a gravel track.

The “silver lining” to the nine month delay was they would now end up with a better standard of track and they now had a story to tell on the track, perhaps with plaques, which they otherwise wouldn’t have had.

New Zealand Heritage Properties principal archaeologist Amy McStay said research undertaken as part of the assessment showed the proposed trail extended through an intensively occupied and modified pre-1900 area of Awarua [between Invercargill and Bluff] with rich history and cultural values.

Five new archaeological sites were recorded, including infrastructure associated with the former Ocean Beach freezing works near Bluff and historic railway and wharf activity in Bluff.

Any archaeological sites encountered by the track contractors would be managed appropriately, she said.

Work on the Invercargill to Bluff track started a decade ago, in 2010, but has been plagued by delays and lack of funding ever since.

Nine kilometres of the track was completed but the wait to complete the final 17km has dragged on.

Up to $950,000 funding was secured for the final 17km leg but additional NZTA funding during the delay would ensure it could be sealed, Hawkes said.

The already completed first 9km of the trail, which starts at Invercargill and stops at Awarua, cost $523,000 and was jointly funded by the Te Araroa Trails Trust [$300,000], ILT Foundation [$30,000], Community Trust Southland [$50,000] and Invercargill City Council and Environment Southland [combined $143,790].